Michael Richardson

With a proud cricketing heritage in his family, it is hardly surprising that Michael Richardson chose to pursue a career in sport. A wicketkeeper-batsman like his father Dave - the former South Africa gloveman who became chief executive of the ICC in 2012 - he carved out a career at Durham, becoming a Championship winner and reliable contributor across the formats. He even won belated international recognition, making his T20I debut at the age of 32 for Germany, who he qualified for through a German grandfather.

Born in Port Elizabeth, Richardson took the initial step from university to professional cricketer when he became an MCC Young Cricketer in 2008, having played for Nottingham University and in the Nottinghamshire Premier League since 2006. The move to Lord's was a successful one, and in his second season he was named captain of the Young Cricketers. Towards the end of the season he signed a professional contract with Durham and was one of their leading batsmen in the 2010 Second Eleven Championship, scoring 562 runs at 70.25.

First-team appearances followed in 2011, and he made the most of Phil Mustard's absence to kick off the season with a pair of half-centuries on his Championship debut that helped set up a 146-run win over Yorkshire in April. Richardson batted down the Durham order in 2013 and when he made his maiden Championship hundred in Durham's defeat of Yorkshire at Scarborough, a result that tipped the title in their direction, he had claims to being the best No. 8 in the country. Yorkshire, again, became victims of another rise in his career-best - 148 this time - at Chester-le-Street in 2014. They must have been sick of the sight of him.

The runs did not always come so reliably, though, and he jettisoned the gloves for a time in 2016 to try to rediscover his best batting form. Returns were fitful over the following three seasons, with only one Championship hundred, although he did average more than 50 in the one-day cap. However, after playing three times for Germany in the ICC's T20 World Cup regional qualifier, he was released by Durham at the end of the 2019 summer.
ESPNcricinfo staff