Sam Robson

Sam David Robson (born 1 July 1989) is an English cricketer, who plays for Middlesex County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman, and occasional legbreak bowler. Born to an Australian father and English mother, Robson played U-19 cricket for Australia but qualified for England in August 2013. In 2012 he became the first batsman to score a first-class hundred in England in the month of March and as of 16 August 2013 he was the leading run-scorer in the 2013 County Championship with 933 runs at an average of 62.06.

Career

Born 1 July 1989 in Paddington, New South Wales, Robson was educated at Marist College Pagewood before moving to Marcellin College Randwick. Robson had also attended Sydney Boys High School in Year 10, playing in the school's 1st XI in the GPS. His Australian father, Jim Robson, played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club against Ireland in 1979 and now works at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Sam's younger brother Angus plays for Leicestershire.

Robson played cricket for New South Wales Under-17s, New South Wales Under-19s, the Australia Under-19 cricket team, the University of New South Wales, and Eastern Suburbs. He left Sydney after school as he was stuck behind Usman Khawaja, his schoolmate Phillip Hughes, and others in the NSW pecking order. He started to play for the Middlesex 2nd XI in 2008, and played his first List A match for Middlesex against Worcestershire in the NatWest Pro40 League on 14 September 2008. He played Grade cricket in Sydney in 2008-9.

Robson made his first-class debut in June 2009, scoring 43 and 23 for Middlesex against Essex County Cricket Club at Chelmsford. He is a "wiry Australian who loves the circuit" and, according to Cricinfo's Mark Pennell, "With an English mother and a UK passport to his name, he looks to be a decent find." In his debut season of 2009, he recorded his maiden first-class century, opening the batting against Essex at Lord's in August. He was eventually out for 110

On 31 March 2012, on the first day of a three-day match against Durham MCC University, Robson made cricket history by becoming the first batsman to score a first-class hundred in England in the month of March. Six other batsmen emulated this feat later the same day, Greg Smith, James Foster, and Graham Napier for Essex against Cambridge MCCU (Napier off only 48 balls), Mark Wallace for Glamorgan against Oxford MCCU (the only first-class century scored in Wales in the month of March), Zac Elkin for Cardiff MCCU against Somerset (the earliest first-class century scored against a county team in England), and Rory Burns for Surrey against Leeds/Bradford MCCU.

International qualification

Robson has British and Australian nationality but played for Australia in nine Under-19 ODIs against Pakistan in April and October 2007. He was expected to qualify for England by residency in the summer of 2014 but achieved it unexpectedly early, in August 2013. In order to play for Middlesex on his British passport he signed a document stating his desire and intention to play for and qualify for England but by 2013 had not committed to either Australia or England at senior level. His captain at Middlesex, fellow Aussie Chris Rogers, said that Robson considered a return to Australia but "I think his future is in England", whilst the Middlesex director of cricket Angus Fraser said in August 2013 "I'm pretty sure that it'll be playing for England". Robson has expressed a clear commitment to Middlesex as he views the County Championship as the best tournament for his development as a cricketer, but under current rules as a dual national he would be treated as an Australian player if he played for an Australian state side and thus would be treated as an overseas player at Middlesex. Cricket Australia changed their rules in August 2013 to allow dual nationals to be treated as overseas players in Australia, so that he could play for NSW in the 2013–14 Sheffield Shield season without compromising his status at Middlesex, which could lead to him playing for the Australian Test side. However, in June 2014 he was named in the England Test squad for their series against Sri Lanka, before making his debut in the first Test. Robson scored 1 and 19 on his test debut, before making his maiden Test century with 127 in the first innings of the second Test.

2014

Robson was named in the England squad to face Sri Lanka along with other debutants Moeen Ali and Chris Jordan. Robson played in the first test but was unable to make an impact, making scores of 1 and 19. Although England lost the second test, Robson shone in the first innings, making 127. However, he could manage only 24 in the second as England collapsed.

Robson retained his place for the first Test against India. He made 59 as the match ended in a draw. He was not effective in the following Test between the two sides, making scores of just 17 and 7 as England lost the game to go 1-0 down in the series. He made 26 and 13 in the next match to help England level the series at 1-1. His position came under pressure after the fourth test when he made 6 runs in England's first innings. He was not required to bat again in the match as England went on to win the match by an innings. In the final Test of the series Robson made 37 as England secured the series 3-1.

Test centuries