Rikki Clarke

After some fine performances in Surrey's championship-winning Second XI team in 2001, Clarke quickly established himself in the first team the following season. He made an unbeaten 107 against Cambridge UCCE in his debut first-class innings and also scored 153 not out against Somerset, ending the season 711 runs at an average of over 50. He was awarded the Cricket Writers' Club's Young Cricketer of the Year award and the NBC Denis Compton Award for his achievements in 2002.

His domestic form suffered in 2004 as he could manage a first-class batting average of only 31.17 and just nine wickets all season. His one-day performances were even worse, as he passed fifty just once in 11 innings. In a 50 overs a side match played on 29 April Clarke hit 82 runs off only 28 balls. It included 9 Fours and 6 Sixes. It helped Surrey get to 494–5 against Gloucestershire.

In 2006 Clarke was made the club's vice-captain, with the aim of giving him some experience of leadership to prepare him to take over the captaincy from Mark Butcher,[2] and later that year he led Surrey in the Twenty20 Cup.[3] In May the England Cricket Board named a 25-man development squad for international players and those considered close to playing for England; Clarke was included in the squad for the first time.[4] Despite his inclusion he was overlooked by England during the summer while players from outside the squad were drafted in to play for England's struggling ODI side.[3] In the 2007 season, Clarke played only ten first-class matches for Surrey, scoring 301 runs and taking 15 wickets.[5]

In October 2007, it was announced Clarke had signed for second division Derbyshire as captain for the 2008 season, after having attracted offers from a number of clubs. The move came after Clarke turned down a 2-year extension with Surrey with him feeling a change was needed. Clarke said of the move:[6]

[Derbyshire] is looking to go forward and that really excited me. The chance to be captain played a part in my decision because I have always wanted to be a leader but I was more interested in where Derbyshire want to go. I am looking at this as a long-term move. I was at Surrey since I was a young lad and it's always difficult to leave but I felt I needed a fresh start. I could have gone to other counties that are regarded as bigger but I see this as one of the best career moves I have made.

— Rikki Clarke, October 2007

Clarke hoped that the move to Derbyshire would improve his chance of being selected for England.[5] Despite Clarke's high hopes, he experienced a poor run of form in the 2008 season that led to him quitting the captaincy. When he made his decision, he was averaging 21 with the bat and 38 with the ball from eight first-class matches.[7] The only first-class half century of his tenure as captain was a score of 81 against Warwickshire in May.[8] At one point, his form was so bad that he dropped himself.[7]

After an unsuccessful year at Derbyshire, Clarke signed a three-year deal with Warwickshire in September 2008. Warwickshire had been interested in Clarke for a long time and Ashley Giles, the club's director of cricket, said:[9]

I played with Rikki for England in Bangladesh and have always regarded him as a talented and exciting cricketer. That talent is unfulfilled at present but I am sure there is more to come from him. He has bags of raw ability and it's up to me and the rest of the coaching team to mould that ability into the top-class cricketer that he is capable of being.

— Ashley Giles, September 2008

At the end of the 2008 season, Warwickshire secured promotion to the first division of the County Championship.[10] Clarke came into prominence in a game in late April 2009 against Hampshire at Edgbaston. Clarke took 2/63 in the Hampshire first innings, and then went on to score a lusty 112 from 86 balls in a Warwickshire reply of 630/8 declared.[11] During a match against Kent in May 2010, Clarke took his first ever five-wicket haul in first-class cricket, taking 6/63.[12] Playing in 15 County Championship matches that season, Clarke took 32 wickets at an average of 23.21,[13] and managed 673 runs at average of 29.26 with one century.[14]

In a County Championship match in April 2011 Clarke took the second five-wicket haul of his first-class career, taking 5/10 in the second innings as Warwickshire bowled out Somerset for 50 runs to complete an innings victory.[15] Later that year Warwickshire awarded Clarke his cap.[16] During a County Championship fixture against Lancashire in August, Clarke took nine catches, equalling the record held by Wally Hammond for most catches in a match by a non-wicketkeeper.[17] Clarke's contract with the club was due to expire at the end of the season, and Sussex took the opportunity to approach Clarke and offer him a contract. Though Warwickshire had offered him a new two-year deal it was expected that he would join Sussex, where he would bat higher up the order in one-day matches,[16][18] though he turned down their offer in September. Soon after he struck his only first-class century of the season, managing 126 runs off 101 balls against Nottinghamshire.[19] He finished the season with 558 runs from 15 matches at an average of 26.57, and aside from his hundred against Nottinghamshire towards the end of the season scored two half-centuries.[20]

Clarke scored a century against Lancashire in the 2012 County Championship; coming in to bat with the score on 81/7, Clarke built a partnership of 224 runs with Darren Maddy, four runs short of Warwickshire's record for the 8th wicket.[21]

In 2017 Clarke returned to Surrey, as part of an exchange deal that saw Dom Sibley join Warwickshire.[22]

In 2018 he contributed to Surrey winning the county championship for the first time since 2002, and was nominated for the PCA player of the year award, claiming 49 wickets and scoring 500 runs. He was named Surrey's player of the year in 2019.[23]

He has been awarded a benefit season by Surrey in 2021.[24]

Rikki retired at the end of the 2021 season, to take up a teaching position.[25]