Ben Compton (cricketer)

Ben Compton
Compton in 2023
Personal information
Full name
Benjamin Garnet Compton
Born (1994-03-29) 29 March 1994 (age 30)
Durban, Natal Province, South Africa
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm off break
RoleBatsman
Relations
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2019–2021Nottinghamshire (squad no. 7)
2021Norfolk
2021/22—2022/23Mountaineers
2022–Kent
2023/24KwaZulu-Natal Inland
FC debut16 September 2019 Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire
LA debut10 August 2021 Nottinghamshire v Northants
Career statistics
Competition First-class List A
Matches 61 26
Runs scored 4,524 1,143
Batting average 43.50 45.72
100s/50s 13/20 3/10
Top score 217 110
Catches/stumpings 41/– 8/–
Source: Cricinfo, 29 September 2024

Benjamin Garnet Compton (born 29 March 1994) is an English cricketer.[1][2] He is the only son of the cricketer Patrick Compton and a grandson of the cricketer-footballer Denis Compton.[3] He made his first-class debut on 16 September 2019, for Nottinghamshire in the 2019 County Championship.[4] He made his List A debut on 10 August 2021, for Nottinghamshire in the 2021 Royal London One-Day Cup.[5]

Compton was released by Nottinghamshire at the end of the 2021 season.[6] In the off-season he joined Kent on a two-year contract.[7] During the 2021/22 English off-season he played for Mountaineers in Zimbabwean cricket.[8] On 17 November 2021, in the 2021–22 Pro50 Championship match against the Rhinos, Compton scored his first century in List A cricket with 102 runs.[9] In February 2022, in the 2021–22 Logan Cup, Compton also scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.[10] Compton finished as the leading run-scorer in the 2021–22 Pro50 Championship, with 361 runs in eight matches,[11] and was named the Batter of the Tournament.[12]

Compton made his Kent debut in the first match of the 2022 season, where he scored a century, the third of his first-class career.[13][14] A week later, in Kent's second match of the season, Compton scored his second and third centuries for the team,[15] carrying his bat in the first innings and being the last batter dismissed in the second.[16] He continued to score heavily and came close to achieving 1,000 first-class runs before the end of May, something only achieved nine times previously, the last in 1998. He had made 878 first-class runs in the County Championship in April and May before scoring 158 runs (in two innings combined) in the last match before the end of May, a red-ball two-innings match for a "First Class Counties XI" against the touring New Zealanders in a match that was not given first-class status as the sides used more than eleven players at different stages.[17][18] He reached the 1,000 run milestone in June, having scored four centuries and five half-centuries during the season to that point.[19]

At the end of the season, Compton was voted Kent's Men's Player of the Year.[20][21] During the 2022—23 English winter, he returned to Zimbabwe, playing again for Mountaineers. He passed his previous highest first-class score of 140 in a match against Eagles in December, making 154 runs, before scoring his maiden double-century later in the month. His score of 217 came against Southern Rocks in an opening partnership of 228 runs with Joylord Gumbie.[22][23] He signed a new Kent contract later the same month, keeping at the club until the end of 2024.[21] In Kent's opening match of the 2023 season, Compton scored another century, matching his performance in scoring a century in the opening match of the previous season with an unbeaten 114 runs.[24]

Compton signed a new one-year contract with Kent in October 2024.[25]

  1. ^ "Ben Compton". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Ben Compton's Kent breakthrough offers hope to late developers". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
  3. ^ "India v England: New opener Nick Compton is very different breed in the family dynasty". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  4. ^ "Specsavers County Championship Division One at Nottingham, Sep 16-19 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Group 1, Grantham, Aug 10 2021, Royal London One-Day Cup". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  6. ^ Barber and Compton to leave Trent Bridge, Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, 10 September 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  7. ^ Ben Compton: Kent sign opening batter on two-year deal, BBC Sport, 26 October 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  8. ^ "Kent's Ben Compton joins Mountaineers". 3-mob.com. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Mountaineers pummel Rhinos as Southern Rock unbeaten run continues". Sunday News. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Compton century guides Mountaineers to a draw". H-Metro. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  11. ^ "Pro50 Championship, 2021/22 / Most runs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Mountaineers beat Rocks to clinch Pro50 Championship title". Zimbabwe Cricket. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  13. ^ Miller A (2022) Ben Compton finally lives up to billing with hard-won maiden county hundred, CricInfo, 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  14. ^ County Championship: Kent fight back against Essex in high-scoring game, BBC Sport, 9 April 2022. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  15. ^ "County Championship: Lancashire beat Kent by 10 wickets despite Ben Compton's rearguard". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  16. ^ "Ben Compton scores twin tons in extraordinary losing cause for Kent". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  17. ^ "New Zealand slip to warm-up defeat after Ben Compton's fifth hundred of summer". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  18. ^ Friend, N. (29 May 2022). "Ben Compton reaches 1,000 red-ball runs before June as County Select XI beat New Zealand". The Cricketer. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  19. ^ County Championship: Kent openers resist after Surrey enforce follow-on, BBC Sport, 28 June 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  20. ^ Reeves T (2022) Kent opener Ben Compton wins player of the year, batter of the year and players' player of the year after a remarkable breakthrough season for him, Kent Online, 7 October 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  21. ^ a b Howson N (2022) Ben Compton rewarded for stellar 2022 with new Kent contract, The Cricketer (online), 25 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  22. ^ Moyo B (2022) Mountaineers, Eagles share the spoils, Chronicle, 15 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  23. ^ Moyo B (2022) Mountaineers too strong for Southern Rocks, Chronicle, 22 December 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  24. ^ Ben Compton's 114* leads Kent to victory over Northamptonshire, CricInfo. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  25. ^ "Kent batter Compton signs new one-year deal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2024.