English cricketer
Alexander James Blake (born 25 January 1989) is an English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2023. He played as a left-handed batsman who bowled occasionally.[1] Blake was born in Farnborough in Bromley and attended Hayes School before studying at Leeds Metropolitan University.[1] Blake was known as a "brutal limited-overs batsman" and an "athletic" fielder.[1]
Cricket career
Blake was a member of the Kent Cricket Academy and played for the county at age group level before making his debut for the Kent Second XI in 2005.[2][3][4] He was part of the England under-19 team which played in an invitational tri-series in January and February 2007 in Kuala Lumpur. Blake made four under-19 One Day International appearances during the tournament against Malaysia under-19s and Sri Lanka under-19s.[5]
Blake made his List A cricket debut for Kent in the 2007 NatWest Pro40 against Surrey in September 2007,[6] before going on to make his first-class cricket debut for Kent against the touring New Zealanders in April 2008.[1][7] He broke into the County Championship side in 2010 and scored his maiden County Championship century against Yorkshire in the final Championship match of the season.[1][8][9]
In 2015 he scored three half-centuries in Twenty 20 matches,[10] including his best score of 71 not out, scored in 30 balls against Hampshire.[1] Blake scored another two half-centuries in the 2015 Royal London One-Day Cup and recorded a batting average of 62 in the competition.[10] After attracting attention from Sussex,[11] he was awarded a new contract at the end of the 2015 season[1][2][10] and won Kent's One-Day Player of the Year award at the end of the season.[12][13]
After only making one first-class appearance during 2015, Blake returned to the Kent County Championship side during the 2016 season, making eight appearances.[14] He hit three sixes from the only balls he faced to complete a Championship win against Derbyshire in May and hit 66 not out against Surrey in the One-Day Cup, scoring a six from the penultimate ball of the match to secure the win for Kent.[15][16]
In January 2020, Blake signed a new white-ball contract with Kent, becoming the first homegrown player to sign such a deal with county.[17] After the 2023 season his contract was not renewed by Kent, bringing to an end a 17-year professional career with Kent.[18]
