English County Cricket Alex Lees

Posted: Monday, 16 January 2017

English County Batsman To Play In The Bay Of Plenty This Summer

From the depths of an English winter, an English County cricket player has come to the summer of the Bay of Plenty, to train and play, avoiding indoor training and the snow and minus degree temperatures of the top of England.

Yorkshire opening batsman Alex Lees arrived in the Western Bay of Plenty, on Sunday 8th January 2017, to train and play before returning home in March 2017. The trip to New Zealand started with Alex's conversation with Black Cap skipper Kane Williamson, who has been a team mate at Yorkshire - and Northern Knights coach James Pamment, who hails from Yorkshire. "The conversation with Bay of Plenty Cricket stalled for a time, but once we had an agreement, my visa and other things happened within a week".

Bay of Plenty Cricket CEO Chris Rapson picks up the story. "Kane came to me just after I had stepped into the Bay Cricket CEO role and said that Alex was a good bloke and both parties would benefit by having him play in the Bay of Plenty". "We thought about the positive influence that Alex would have playing alongside our young men and I remembered the impact that John Derrick, Lance Cairns and Andy Roberts had with Te Puke some thirty years ago, which is still with the club today".

Lees was quickly immersed in the kiwi game, after being picked up by Chris Rapson at Auckland airport, with the first port of call being the Bay Oval to watch the Black Caps square off with Bangladesh. "In true kiwi fashion, one of our Board members offered his self contained annex to Alex, while others in the local cricket community have quickly extended the hand of welcome", said Rapson.

Cricket statistics tell us that Alex Lees has blasted over 4000 first class runs with a highest score of 275 not out, with nearly two thousand runs in one-day and T20 cricket. He became the second youngest ever Yorkshire captain when he captained the Yorkshire limited overs team in 2015, leading them to the T20 Final in 2016.

When asked where it all began, Alex replied "I was sports mad as a youngster and developed a real passion for cricket. I joined the Yorkshire (County Cricket Club) age group program and was selected as a member of the Yorkshire Cricket Academy". "Progression to the Yorkshire second eleven was followed by my first class debut against India A as a seventeen year old in 2010. In 2013, Yorkshire offered me a full-time professional contract".

The Yorkshire CCC website states the England cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott said that Alex (in his early days) was an England star of the future. Alex has gone on the earn selection for the English Performance Program squad and has toured with the English Lions (England A) to Australia and Sri Lanka.

Alex will play for Tauranga Boys College in the BOPCA Williams Cup club competition and is available for selection for the upcoming Bay of Plenty Hawke Cup and Fergus Hickey Rosebowl games. "My focus while in the Bay of Plenty is to get as many runs as possible and also impart on some of the knowledge that was passed on to me in my early days with Yorkshire". "I see my role in club and rep cricket as helping the lads out to become more professional in their approach to the game".

Selection for Hawke Cup cricket, would see Alex follow in the (long ago) footsteps of two Northern Hemisphere born English County players in John Derrick and Mathew Maynard, who played in Bay of Plenty Hawke Cup Direct Challenges during the 1980's.

Share this page: