Rob Key

Robert Key

Key bats for Kent against New Zealand at the St. Lawrence Ground in 2008.
Personal information
Full name	Robert William Trevor Key
Born	(1979-05-12) 12 May 1979 (age 45) East Dulwich, London, England
Nickname	Keysy
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium
Role	Opening batsman
International information
National side	England
Test debut (cap 612)	8 August 2002 v India
Last Test	21 January 2005 v South Africa
ODI debut (cap 178)	26 June 2003 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI	6 July 2004 v West Indies
ODI shirt no.	35
Only T20I (cap 44)	5 June 2009 v Netherlands
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1998–2016	Kent (squad no. 4)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 15 5 299 225 Runs scored 775 54 19,419 6,469 Batting average 31.00 10.80 40.45 32.18 100s/50s 1/3 0/0 54/76 8/37 Top score 221 19 270* 144* Balls bowled – – 484 – Wickets – – 3 – Bowling average – – 110.33 – 5 wickets in innings – – 0 – 10 wickets in match – – 0 – Best bowling – – 2/31 – Catches/stumpings 11/– 0/– 155/– 46/–
Source: CricInfo, 4 June 2020

Robert William Trevor Key (born 12 May 1979) is an English former cricketer and cricket commentator who played international cricket in all formats for England and domestic cricket for Kent County Cricket Club. He is the current managing director of the England Cricket team.

A right-handed opening batsman, Key made appearances at age-group level for Kent from the age of eleven, moving up until he made his first-class debut in 1998. He made eight first-class and four List A appearances for England's youth sides, and was a member of the side that won the 1998 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Following a season of heavy run-scoring, Key was called up to the England A side in 1999.

Following an injury to Marcus Trescothick, Key made his Test debut against India in 2002. He toured Australia during the 2002–03 Ashes series, where he justified his selection ahead of a more experienced player. His One Day International debut came in 2003, against Zimbabwe, however he was dropped from both squads shortly after. Injury to Mark Butcher allowed Key back into the England side for the series against the West Indies in 2004. He scored his maiden Test hundred in the first match of the series, which later became his maiden first-class double century as he scored 221. This performance, coupled with the 93 he scored in the third Test, earned him recognition as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Key's last Test matches came during England's tour of South Africa during 2004–05, where he managed to score 152 runs without being consistent, and despite a one-match return during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, he has remained on the fringes of selection.

Key became Kent captain following the 2006 English cricket season, following David Fulton's resignation. He led Kent to a County Championship 2nd Division Championship title in 2010, two Twenty20 Cup Finals Day appearances and a Friends Provident Trophy final. He resigned as Kent captain following the 2012 English cricket season and James Tredwell became club captain. Key only had one season off as captain as Tredwell then himself resigned and Key was named as his replacement, captaining the county for another two years until the end of the 2015 season.^[1]

In April 2016, Key announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.^[2][3] Key was a regular commentator on Sky Sports' TV coverage of county cricket while still a player at Kent, and after retiring he worked as a pundit and commentator for a variety of media outlets, including GTV and SEN. On 17 April 2022, he was appointed as the managing director of the England men's cricket team, stepping down from all of his media commitments.^[4]