Batting style Right-hand bat National side English | Name James Ormond Role Cricket Player | |
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Bowling style Right-arm medium-fast, Right-arm offbreak | ||
James Ormond (born 20 August 1977, Coventry, England) is a former English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler although he has also bowled off-spin in his second and final Test match against India in Mohali.
James grew up playing club cricket at Corley CC and established himself as a hard hitting fast bowling all rounder creating batting as well as bowling records. He also played a few games for rivals Fillongley CC and memorably felled Fillongley stalwart Geoff Myton, who was innocently standing at second slip.
Ormond made his first-class debut in 1995 for Leicestershire County Cricket Club and played a part in the successful championship seasons of 1996 and 1998. Ormond had several consistent seasons at Leicestershire which saw him get rewarded with representation for England at Under-19 level and places on England A tours of Kenya and Sri Lanka.
Ormond eventually made his full Test debut against Australia in 2001. He was then picked for the tour of India where he played his second and final Test match. His two Test wickets were Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid, who both went on to score 12,000 Test runs. He was ostensibly dropped for lack of form, though many suspected that new coach Duncan Fletcher's obsession with fitness actually led to his being culled from the squad.
After he returned to England he moved from Leicestershire to Surrey, where he won another county championship title in his first season. He remained at the club until the end of the 2009 season when he was released.
Controversies
Ormond was involved in a notable piece of sledging; when, in a Test match against Australia in 2001, Mark Waugh asked him, "Mate, what are you doing out here? There's no way you're good enough to play for England." Ormond replied "Maybe not, but at least I'm the best player in my own family", a reference to Waugh's brother Steve, who was the captain of the Australian team.
Ormond, "fond of a fag and a few beers after close of play", was criticised for being overweight while an England player.