Jeremy Snape

After waiting until he was 28 for the opportunity to play international cricket, Jeremy Snape could hardly have wished for a more felicitous start to his England career. Selected for the short one-day tour of Zimbabwe in October 2001, Snape played in the first one-day international at Harare. He bowled ten tidy overs of off-spin, taking the wickets of the two Flower brothers, and held two catches in the outfield. However, after his final ODI appearance in 2002 he had to wait five years for another call, when his Twenty20 expertise won his place in the World Championship squad to South Africa.

After captaining England Under-18s in Canada in 1991, and touring with England U-19s in Pakistan the following winter, Snape began his county career with Northamptonshire, where he played from 1992-98. He joined Gloucestershire for the 1999 season and became a key element in the team's comprehensive one-day success.

Snape played in each of Gloucestershire's winning sides in four Lord's finals in 1999 and 2000, and was a key member of the team that won the unique one-day treble, adding the National League to the cabinet in 2000. The lack of international recognition for Gloucestershire's local heroes raised a few west-country eyebrows at this time, and Snape's selection for the Zimbabwe tour was seen in some eyes as a belated one.

Snape's success in Zimbabwe was followed by appearances in the first four ODIs in the six-match series in India. However he was replaced by Ashley Giles for the last two matches, and did not feature in the five-match series in New Zealand.

Snape parted company with Gloucestershire at the end of the 2002 season after an unhappy period in which he neither saw eye-to-eye with the club's management nor commanded a regular place in the county XI. His move to Leicestershire brought a new dimension to his cricket as he became a expert at Twenty20. His loopy bowling and smart batting made him a key part of the team that won the 2004 and 2006 titles. He captained them the second time around, but began to stand aside in Championship cricket to allow youngsters a chance.

He was to earn an England call-up of a different kind in the winter of 2006-07 - as a sports psychologist. Already in the Caribbean to help the Associates with their World Cup preparations, England drafted in Snape, who has a masters in Sports Psychology, to assist with their campaign. His next tour found him back on the playing side, representing England in the ICC World Twenty20, and announced his retirement the following season.
Will Luke June 2008