Ian Blackwell

Ian David Blackwell (born 10 June 1978) is an English umpire and retired professional cricketer.[1] A left-arm orthodox spinner and powerful middle-order batsman, he played for England at One Day International (ODI) and Test level, and most recently played county cricket for Warwickshire in the second half of the 2012 season. He was born at Chesterfield in Derbyshire.[2][3]

Ian Blackwell
Personal information
Full nameIan David Blackwell
Born (1978-06-10) 10 June 1978
Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
NicknameBlackie, Blackdog, Donkey, Le Donk
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingSlow left-arm orthodox
RoleAll-rounder, umpire
International information
National side
Only Test (cap 629)1 March 2006 v India
ODI debut (cap 170)18 September 2002 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI15 April 2006 v India
ODI shirt no.37
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1997–1999Derbyshire
2000–2008Somerset
2009–2012Durham
2012→ Warwickshire (on loan)
Umpiring information
FC umpired37 (2015–present)
LA umpired21 (2015–present)
T20 umpired25 (2015–present)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 1 34 210 254
Runs scored 4 403 11,595 5,765
Batting average 4.00 14.92 39.57 27.19
100s/50s 0/0 0/1 27/64 3/34
Top score 4 82 247* 134*
Balls bowled 114 1,230 31,618 8,885
Wickets 0 24 398 207
Bowling average – 36.54 35.91 34.30
5 wickets in innings – 0 14 1
10 wickets in match – 0 0 0
Best bowling – 3/26 7/52 5/26
Catches/stumpings 0/– 3/– 66/– 64/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 18 October 2012

Domestic career

Somerset County Cricket Club

Blackwell started off his career at Derbyshire, before moving to Somerset in 2000 following a dispute with Derbyshire captain Dominic Cork.[3][4] He was appointed captain of Somerset for the last part of the 2005 season after the departure of Graeme Smith.[5] Having been appointed official captain for 2006, he had shoulder surgery and missed almost all of the season.

Durham County Cricket Club

After the 2008 season, Blackwell left Somerset and joined Durham.[2] Blackwell's struggles with fitness and disagreements with the captain, Justin Langer, were also factors in his departure from Somerset.[6] Blackwell managed to lose 10 kg (22 lb) over the winter.[7] On his first-class debut for Durham, in the opening match of the 2009 English season, Blackwell scored a century against the Marylebone Cricket Club, featuring a bowling line up including England hopefuls Sajid Mahmood, Kabir Ali, Tim Bresnan, and Adil Rashid.[6]

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Entering the 2012 season, having been afflicted by a second shoulder operation, Blackwell played few matches in the first half of the season for Durham. The county then agreed to loan him from August to Warwickshire, who required coverage for the four-week absence of spinner Jeetan Patel.[8]

In January 2013, Durham terminated Blackwell's contract leading to his retirement from professional cricket in March 2013. After a third shoulder operation over the winter, Blackwell had been diagnosed with arthritis in his left shoulder.[1][9][10]

International career

Blackwell was called up for the England Test squad after Ashley Giles had to withdraw from the 2006 tour to India. After impressing in warm-up matches, he was selected for the 1st Test against India on 1 March in Nagpur. However, he was not frequently used by captain Andrew Flintoff, only bowling six fairly expensive overs in the first Indian innings, in comparison to fellow left arm spinner Monty Panesar's 42 overs. In the second Indian innings, Blackwell was initially more economical but as India went on an audacious chase of the huge total set to them by England, he was brought on to prevent the batsmen from scoring quickly, but conceded 18 runs in his first over. This came after a nervous innings of only 4 in his only opportunity with the bat, and Blackwell was subsequently dropped for the second Test, replaced by Liam Plunkett.

Blackwell remained first choice spinner for the One Day International (ODI) series however. Although England lost the series 5–1, Blackwell's performances were encouraging and seemed to indicate he was ready to hold down a regular place in the side. Ten overs in the first ODI went for just 24 runs at the same time as picking up one wicket, his cheapest ever spell in an ODI, while he also picked up figures of 2–39 and 2–21. Blackwell looked set to make another Test match appearance against Sri Lanka, but suffered a shoulder injury which derailed his season. As a consequence he was replaced as spinner in England's ODI side, and was subsequently overlooked by the selectors.

Umpiring career

While still playing, Blackwell got his first taste of umpiring, taking control of a handful of local matches in Durham.[11] After retiring in 2013, Blackwell turned his full attention to umpiring, initially officiating in Minor County and Second XI cricket.[12] In December 2014 Blackwell was added to ECB's reserve list of first-class umpires.[13] Blackwell made his debut in First-class cricket in April 2015 in a match between Somerset and Durham MCC University at Taunton. He umpired his first match in the County Championship in April 2016.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Injury ends all-rounder's professional career". BBC Sport. 14 March 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  2. "Ian Blackwell signs for Durham". ESPNcricinfo. 18 November 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  3. "Ian Blackwell". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  4. Dobell, George (2 October 2002). "Blackie looms large". The Cricketer. Retrieved 16 April 2020 – via ESPNcricinfo.
  5. "Blackwell to take charge". Bristol Evening Post. 12 July 2005. Retrieved 16 April 2020 – via NewsBank.
  6. McGlashan, Andrew (10 April 2009), "Blackwell hopes for fresh start after early ton", ESPNcricinfo, retrieved 10 April 2009
  7. "Leaner Blackwell hits Durham ton", BBC Sport, 10 April 2009, retrieved 10 April 2009
  8. "Warwickshire loan move for Durham spinner Ian Blackwell". BBC Sport. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  9. Dobell, George (16 January 2013). "Durham exit could end Blackwell career". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  10. "Ian Blackwell Confirms Retirement". Durham Cricket. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  11. Joshi, Gaurav (6 September 2018). "Ian Blackwell's journey as an emerging First-class umpire and challenges from the other side of stumps". Firstpost. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  12. Edwards, Richard (31 December 2014). "Bucolic Ian Blackwell back in the middle". The Independent. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  13. "ECB reveals umpire appointments for 2015". ECB. 10 December 2014. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  14. "Ian Blackwell as Umpire in First-Class Cricket". CricketArchive. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Graeme Smith		 Somerset County Cricket Captain
2005–2006		 Succeeded by
Justin Langer
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