Name James Boiling | Role Cricket Player | |
James Boiling (born 8 April 1968) was an Indian-born English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and a right-arm off-break bowler. He was born in New Delhi and educated at Rutlish School in Merton, south London.
Boiling's first-class career began in 1988, when he was signed by Surrey after appearing for them in the Second XI the previous year. This came straight off the back of appearing in all eight of the England Young Cricketers' appearances in the Youth World Cup of 1988. Boiling became a part of the Surrey first team during the 1991 season, which saw an improvement on the team's performance the previous year. However, as a tailender for the team, Boiling had one of the weakest averages of the season. In the same year, he was on the losing side in the NatWest Trophy final, which was played against Hampshire.
After a disappointing 1992 season, Boiling toured with the England A team to Australia in the winter tour, and played two games against domestic Australian teams. He returned to the Surrey team in 1994, where he helped to partner onetime Test player Joey Benjamin in the tailend. However, this was to prove his final year in the side, as he signed to Durham in time for 1995.
During 1995, Boiling hit his best-ever innings total of 69, one of only two half-centuries he scored during his career. Boiling played several matches during the first half of the winless 1996 season, and when he returned to cricketing action in the spring of 1997, he retained a decent economy rate as a bowler. Durham underperformed during 1997, and with it came a dip in Boiling's form. At the end of this season he was never to play another first-class match, though he remained in the Limited Overs side for one final season.
Boiling hit one ten-wicket match in his career, with best bowling figures of 6-84. He was a tailender throughout nearly ten years playing in both first-class and limited overs cricket.