Martin Thursfield
English cricketer
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Martin John Thursfield (born 14 December 1971) is an English former cricketer who played first-class cricket as a medium pace bowler for Hampshire, Middlesex, and Sussex.
South Shields, County Durham, England
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Martin John Thursfield | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 14 December 1971 South Shields, County Durham, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Right-handed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Right-arm medium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Domestic team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990 | Middlesex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1996 | Hampshire | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Sussex | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 11 December 2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Thursfield was born in December 1971 at South Shields, County Durham. A club cricketer for Boldon Cricket Club,[1] he initially had trials with Worcestershire in 1988.[2] In April 1989, he joined the staff at Middlesex.[3] He made his debut in first-class cricket for Middlesex against the touring New Zealanders at Lord's in 1990. He made a further first-class appearance for Middlesex in the 1990 County Championship against Essex at Ilford.[4] Thursfield was deemed enough of a pace bowling prospect to be selected to tour New Zealand with Young England Cricketers in the winter which followed the 1990 season.[5] During the tour, he made a single Youth One Day International appearance against the New Zealand Young Cricketers at Hamilton.[6] Thursfield broke his leg during a match on tour, but only left the field of play after he had insisted on bowling two more deliveries.[5] This injury had the impact of severely stunting his development as a bowler.[5]
He left Middlesex following the 1990 season, joining Hampshire for 1991.[7] He returned to action four months after breaking his leg.[7] With the presence of bowlers such as Malcolm Marshall in the Hampshire side, Thursfield found his first team opportunities limited.[5] His first team debut would not come until 1993, when he played a first-class match against Oxford University. He subsequently made two appearances in the 1993 County Championship,[4] alongside six List A one-day appearances in the 1993 Axa Equity & Law League.[8] The following season he made seven appearances in the County Championship, alongside appearing in first-class matches against Oxford University and the touring South Africans;[4] in first-class matches that season, he took 17 wickets at an average of 30.82,[9] taking his only five wicket haul with figures of 6 for 130 against Middlesex.[10] He made six further one-day appearances in the 1994 Axa Equity & Law League. After the 1994 season, Thursfield found his first-class opportunities limited and was mostly utilised in one-day cricket,[8] before being released by Hampshire following the 1996 season.[11] In twenty first-class matches for Hampshire, he took 33 wickets at an average of 39.42.[12] In 31 one-day matches, he took 23 wickets at an average of 48.91, with best figures of 3 for 31.[13]
Thursfield signed a one-year deal for Sussex for the 1997 season,[11][14] making two first-class and one-day appearances.[4][8] He was released by Sussex just three months into his one-year contract, with their chief executive Tony Pigott opining that he felt Thursfield was never going to be a regular in the Sussex side.[14] After the end of his cricket career, Thursfield became a police officer with Durham Constabulary, where he served alongside former cricketer Gary Brown.[15]