Samuel Thomas Fanning (born 20 October 2000) is a New Zealand-born Australian cricketer who plays first-class cricket for the Western Australia cricket team. He made his first-class debut against New South Wales in the 2022–23 Sheffield Shield. He has also represented the Australian under-19 team in both Test and ODI cricket.

Sam Fanning
Personal information
Full name
Samuel Thomas Fanning
Born (2000-10-20) 20 October 2000 (age 24)
Christchurch, New Zealand
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm off break
RoleBatsman
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2022/23–Western Australia
2023/24Perth Scorchers
Career statistics
Competition FC LA T20
Matches 6 1 1
Runs scored 151 4 31
Batting average 15.10 4.00 31.00
100s/50s 0/1 0/0 0/0
Top score 61 4 31
Catches/stumpings 4/– 2/– 0/–
Source: Cricinfo, 13 August 2024

Career

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Fanning represented Australia at the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.[1] In the quarter-final against India he top-scored for Australia with 75 runs, but received two demerit points from the ICC for elbowing Akash Singh during the match.[2][3] He also faced criticism along with some of his teammates for inappropriate comments made on social media during the tournament that appeared to mock non-native English speakers, with a Cricket Australia statement labelling the comments as "having no place in society".[4]

Fanning plays for Perth in Western Australian Premier Cricket and had a breakout season in 2021–22, scoring more First Grade runs than any other batter,[5] and scoring over 1000 runs for the season across all competitions by mid-January.[6] His performance in grade cricket earned a call-up to his state side for the first match of the 2022–23 Sheffield Shield in which he scored a gritty 32 from 161 balls.[7]

Shortly after his first-class debut Fanning played two T20 matches for Western Australia against a touring Indian side as part of the Indian warm-ups for the 2022 T20 World Cup. In the first of these matches Fanning gained attention for scoring a half-century after coming in with his team 4 wickets down for just 12 runs.[8]

Pitch tampering

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In March 2023, Fanning received a four-game ban from the WA Premier Cricket competition, with a further two matches suspended, after being caught on film digging his spikes into the protected area of the pitch during the WA Premier Cricket final in Perth between Perth CC and Bayswater-Morley CC.[9] Furthermore, he will be ineligible for state selection early next season.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Middleton, Dave. "Next generation: Australia reveal U19 World Cup squad". cricket.com.au. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  2. ^ Tiwari, Ajay. "U19 World Cup: Australia's Sam Fanning punished by ICC for elbowing Akash Singh in quarter-final". India Today. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  3. ^ "Sam Fanning receives two demerit points for breaching ICC Code of Conduct". ICC Cricket. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  4. ^ "CA to consider sanctioning U-19 players for controversial Instagram comments". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Batting Averages and Aggregates". WA Premier Cricket. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  6. ^ McArdle, Jordan. "WA rookie Sam Fanning reaches 1000 runs for the summer after back-to-back centuries for Perth Cricket Club". The West Australian. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Western Australia's Teague Wyllie the youngest Sheffield Shield centurion in three decades, with 104 against NSW". ABC News. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  8. ^ McArdle, Jordan. "India beat WA by 13 runs despite stunning Sam Fanning knock at packed WACA ground". The West Australian. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  9. ^ Savage, Nick. "West Australian cricketer Sam Fanning cops four-match ban after being caught pitch tampering". Fox Cricket. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  10. ^ "Sam Fanning to miss start of next season after ban for pitch tampering". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
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