Neil Stanley

Neil Alan Stanley (born 16 May 1968) is a former English cricketer. Stanley was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born in Bedford and educated at Bedford Modern School.[1]

Stanley made his debut in county cricket for Bedfordshire in the 1987 Minor Counties Championship. He made four appearances in 1987,[2] and an appearance each in MCCA Knockout Trophy in 1988 and 1989.[3] In 1988, he played three Youth One Day Internationals for England Young Cricketers, making an appearance each against Australia Young Cricketers, Pakistan Young Cricketers and New Zealand Young Cricketers.[4] In that same season he made his first-class debut for Northamptonshire against Oxford University in 1988. He made twenty further first-class appearances for the county, the last of which came against Surrey in the 1992 County Championship.[5] In his twenty-one first-class matches, he scored 1,019 runs at an average of 32.87, with a high score of 132.[6] This score, which was his only first-class century, came against Lancashire in a partnership worth 236 runs with Allan Lamb.[7] His List A debut for Northamptonshire came against Yorkshire in the 1988 Benson & Hedges Cup. He made fourteen further List A appearances for the county, the last of which came against Somerset in the 1993 AXA Equity & Law League.[8] In his fifteen appearances in that format for Northamptonshire, Stanley scored 103 runs at an average of 10.30, with a high score of 18.[9] He left Northamptonshire at the end of the 1993 season.

He rejoined his native county for the 1994 season, playing Minor counties cricket for Bedfordshire from 1994 to 2002, making a further 36 Minor Counties Championship[2] and 30 MCCA Knockout Trophy appearances.[3] He made his first List A appearance for Bedfordshire in the 1994 NatWest Trophy against Warwickshire. He made twelve further List A appearances for his home county, the last of which came against Warwickshire in the 2003 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy.[8] In his thirteen List A appearances, he scored 295 runs at an average of 24.58, with a high score of 69.[9] This score, one of two fifties he made in that format for Bedfordshire, came against Devon in the 2002 Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy.[10] With the ball, he took 9 wickets at a bowling average of 30.55, with best figures of 3/48.[11]