15 Interesting facts about Sam Billings

A part of the new look England side, wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings has quickly made his mark in the cricket world. Billings is one of those young generation players from England who are tagged as the T20 specialists. He has already been involved in franchise cricket and now has made his way to the Indian Premier League. Here are interesting facts about Sam Billings:

1. Early Life:

Sam Billings was born on 15 July 1991 in Pembury, Kent. He grew up on his family’s farm in north Kent.

2. Nicknames:

Sam is fondly known as Bilbo, Billo, and Rupert.

3. Cricket not the only sport:

He has a keen interest in other sports too. He played Tennis for Kent and even attended the trials for Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. He also played racquets, squash, and rugby.

4. Sports in genes:

His grandfather, Ron Billings, was a racquets champion and his cousin, Tom Billings, is a world ranked player of the game.

5. Education:

Sam attended Haileybury College in Hertfordshire, appearing regularly for their cricket First XI throughout his school career. He studied for a degree in Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University.

6. Early cricket career – century on debut:

He made his first-class debut for Loughborough MCCU against Northamptonshire in 2011. He scored a century on debut against Northamptonshire. He made a further first-class appearance for the team in 2011, against Leicestershire. In his 4 first-class matches for Loughborough MCCU, he scored 321 runs at an average of 45.85, with a high score of 131.

7. Highest score by a Kent batsman:

His innings of 143 off 113 balls against Derbyshire at Canterbury was the highest one-day total by a Kent batsman at St Lawrence Ground in the 2012 season.

8. ECB scholarship:

Having been the county’s leading run-maker in T20 as well as CB40 in 2012, he went on an ECB scholarship to Australia over the winter of 2012-13.

9. Blitzkrieg knock against Somerset:

Sam Billings hit a belligerent knock of 135 off just 58 balls in the 50 over match at Canterbury in 2015.

10. Trescothick calls him ‘Buttler’s rival’:

Marcus Trescothick, Somerset’s former England captain, identified Billings as a potential rival for Jos Buttler, quite an accolade considering Buttler’s Somerset roots, and said: “Billings absolutely annihilated us.”

11. International debut:

He made his ODI debut against New Zealand at Birmingham in 2015. His T20I debut came against the same team in 2015.

12. Winning the game for England:

Playing in the first T20 against Pakistan at Dubai, Sam hit a match-winning 53 off just 25 balls that took England’s score to a decent 160/5 in their 20 overs. England won the match by 14 runs.

13. Franchise cricket – PSL and IPL:

In December 2015, he was selected by Islamabad United in the 2016 Pakistan Super League draft. Billings played in five matches for Islamabad, scoring 34 runs. He was purchased by the Delhi Daredevils in the 2016 Indian Premier League auction in February 2016 for £30,000.

14. Fifty on IPL debut:

He made his IPL debut against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Delhi for the Delhi Daredevils. He made a fifty on debut, scoring 54 off just 34 balls. After Richard Levi’s half-century on debut for Mumbai Indians against Chennai Superkings in 2012, Billings became the first man to score a half-century on IPL debut.

15. Major Teams:

Sam Billings has played for the following teams in his career so far: England, Delhi Daredevils, England Under-19s, Islamabad United, Kent, Kent 2nd XI, Loughborough Marylebone Cricket Club University (England)