da betway： Ian Blackwell’s career may be over at the age of 34 after his contractwas terminated a year early by Durham.
George Dobell16-Jan-2013
Ian Blackwell could have ended his career on a high•Getty Images
Ian Blackwell’s career may be over at the age of 34 after his contractwas terminated a year early by Durham.Blackwell, who played one Test and 34 ODIs for England, recently underwent thethird bout of surgery on a long-standing shoulder injury and wasthought unlikely to be fitfor the first three or four months of the 2013 season.Despite animpressive first-class record – he scored over 11,000 first-class runsat a fraction under 40 andclaimed 398 first-class wickets at 35.91 apiece – he fell out offavour at Durham during 2012 and did not feature in their Championshipside after May.A destructive batsman and reliable left-arm spinner, Blackwell wouldsurely have won more opportunities for England had he embraced therequisite fitnessethic. He attempted, on various occasions, to lose weight with varyingdegrees of success but, eventually, temptation always got the betterof him.Over thelast few years his increasingly rounded figure provided something of athrowback to a more innocent age in the professional game. He was wellsuited to hissobriquet – The Blacksmith – and the county circuit will be a littleless entertaining for the news that he laid down his hammer and tongs forthe final time.But he could play. His double-century for Somerset againstDerbyshire at Taunton in 2003 is the fastest, in terms of ballsreceived, ever made by anEnglishman. It occupied just 134 balls, with the second 100 coming offonly 41 deliveries. And, with his unostentatious spin, he took 43wickets – 10 more thanany spinner had previously managed in a season for Durham – as thecounty successfully defended their Championship title in 2009.His sole Test came at Nagpur in 2006 – the game in which Alastair Cookand Monty Panesar also made their debuts – and, though he struck atypicallycommanding 82 in his second ODI, he failed to pass 50 in any of hisother 34 matches and, at one stage in 2003, scored one run in foursuccessive inningsagainst Australia.After making his debut for his native Derbyshire, he left the county -largely due to a dislike of Dominic Cork – as part of a widespreadexodus and joinedSomerset in 2000. He spent nine happy seasons at a club that hasalways had a soft spot for big-hitting allrounders but, struggling to fit in with Justin Langer’s less romantic approach to fitness, departed for Durhamat the end of 2008.He may reflect that his career ended on a high. Loaned out toWarwickshire for the final few weeks of the 2012 season, he was partof the side that clinched theCounty Championship title and his last game was the CB40 final atLord’s. A future as an umpire beckons.