David Willey

David Jonathan Willey is an English former international cricketer. Willey was a member of the England team that won the 2022 T20 World Cup. On 1 November 2023, he announced his retirement from international cricket, following the 2023 Cricket World Cup.

Early life:

He is the son of former England cricketer and international umpire Peter Willey. He married singer and songwriter Carolynne Willey in November 2016.

Domestic Career:

Northamptonshire

• Willey started his career playing for his home county Northamptonshire in the County Championship division two. His first game came against Leicestershire, the first game of the season against one of his father’s old clubs.
• His first wicket came in his second first-class against Kent when he had Phil Edwards out LBW. It was in the Twenty20 that he excelled in, but this time with his bowling taking 3/9 in his first spell against Worcestershire and finished the 2009 competition with an average of 11.30.
• In 2013, Willey helped Northamptonshire to a 102 – run victory in a rain-shortened Friends Life Twenty20 Final against Surrey where he made 60 with the bat, then had figures of 4/9, including a match-ending hat-trick to clean up the tail.

Yorkshire

• He made his Yorkshire debut against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on 1 May 2016.

Perth Scorchers

• Willey was signed by Perth Scorchers for the 2015 – 16 BBL season. After a successful first season, he was retained for the 2016 – 17 season. In the first match against the Adelaide Strikers, he performed well with the ball, taking 2 wickets, however, he scored only 2 runs off five balls with the bat.
• He was again retained by the Scorchers for the 2017 – 18 season, as the only overseas player for the club.

Northern Superchargers

• He was the team’s captain for the first edition of the tournament as planned captain Faf du Plessis was ruled out for the inaugural edition of The Hundred tournament.

Indian Premier League

• Chennai Super Kings signed Willey for the 2018 IPL season to replace Kedar Jadhav, who was injured during the first match of the tournament, and he was also sought as a replacement for the injured New Zealand spinner, Mitchell Santner.

International Career:

• One Day International debut: for England against Ireland on 8 May 2015 and took his first wicket in a rain – affected match
• Twenty20 International debut: on 23 June 2015 for England against New Zealand
• He took figures of 3 – 22 and scored six runs to help England win the match.
• On 30 July 2020, in the opening match against Ireland, Willey took his first five – wicket haul in an ODI match, with figures of 5/30 from 8.4 overs.
• With defending champions England finishing in seventh place in the 2023 World Cup, David Willey announced his retirement following the World Cup. He took 3 for 56 from his 10 overs on a winning cause in his last match against Pakistan. It was played on 11 November 2023 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

Major Achievements:

• In England’s 2016 World T20 campaign, he played a crucial role in the win over Afghanistan, making an unbeaten 20 to guide England to 141, before taking 2 – 23 with the ball. In that same match, partnered with Moeen Ali, he set the record for the highest partnership for the 8th wicket in T20 World Cup history, 57 runs.