Quick Facts
AriesBiography
Alexander Zak Lees (born 14 April 1993) is an English first-class cricketer. A left-handed batsman and occasional right arm leg-spin bowler, Lees is contracted to Durham, having previously played first-class matches for Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
Career
Early life
Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Lees attended Holy Trinity Senior School in Halifax. He has been with Yorkshire since 2006, starting at under 13 level. He has played for and captained the Yorkshire Academy in the Yorkshire ECB County Premier League, and the Yorkshire Second XI in the Second XI Championship, and appeared in several first-class matches for Yorkshire. The first was against India A in June 2010, when Lees scored 38 runs.In April 2013, Lees made his maiden first-class century in his third first-class match, when scoring 121 against Leeds/Bradford MCC Universities at Headingley.
England development
He was part of the England player development XI in both 2010 and 2011. In September 2011, Yorkshire County Cricket Club announced that Lees had been awarded a 'junior pro contract'. He was given plaudits from the former England opener Geoffrey Boycott, who stated that "I think he's very good ... I like the whole package with him".
Lees played his first match against an England first-class county side in April 2013, when he appeared for Yorkshire against Sussex, and scored a century in his third County Championship match with 100 against Middlesex at Lord's. In July, he played only the 50th innings of over 250 runs for Yorkshire, scoring 275 not out in the first innings of the match against Derbyshire at Queen's Park, Chesterfield. His innings was the third-highest score at the ground and also made him the youngestYorkshire player to score a double hundred.
In August 2013, Lees was selected to play for England Lions in a two-day friendly match against the Australians at Northampton, opening the batting and scoring 33 runs. He then travelled to Australia with the England Performance Squad, though he did not pass fifty. He also played for the Lions against Sri Lanka A Emerging Players in February 2014, scoring a century in the first match.
In September 2014, Lees was named the Cricket Writers' Club Young Cricketer of the Year.
On 13 August 2018, Lees signed for Durham on loan until the end of the 2018 season before signing a three-year contract at the end of the season.
