James Goodman (cricketer)

James Elliot Goodman (born 19 November 1990) is a former English professional cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club between 2007 and 2011. Playing as a top order batsman, Goodman represented England at age-group levels up to the under-19 side before retiring from professional cricket in 2011, aged 20, in order to pursue a career outside the game.[1][2] Goodman was born in Farnborough in south-east London and attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington.[3]

After playing age-group cricket for Kent and becoming a member of the county's cricket academy in 2005,[1] Goodman made his Second XI debut in August 2006. He played for England under-16s in 2007 and toured Sri Lanka and India with England under-19s in 2008, the youngest player in the touring party.

Goodman made his full Kent debut in a limited-overs match against the touring Sri Lanka A side in 2007, going on to make his first-class cricket debut in June 2010 against a touring Pakistani side at Canterbury, scoring a half-century on debut.[4][5] He was seen as a promising batsman who the county had "high hopes" for, with coach Paul Farbrace describing him as "an outstanding cricketer" after his first-class debut.[5] He played his final match for Kent in June 2011, before turning down the offer of a new contract and retiring from professional cricket at the end of the 2011 season in order to go to university and pursue other career choices.[1][6]