Steven Cheetham

Full Name	Steven Cheetham
Nickname	Cheets
DoB	5th September 1987
Height	6' 5
Bats/Bowls	Right-hand/Fast-Medium
Shirt Number	18
Lancashire	Lancs Academy 2005-6, Scholarship 2007-8, Debut 2007. Other club: Surrey (loan) 2010
Tests	0
ODI	0

Profile

After a promising start to the 2009 campaign whilst in the Middle East on the club’s pre-season tour, the summer couldn’t have gone any worse for tall quick bowler Steven Cheetham.

Having taken 5-12 from his ten overs against the Fly Emirates XI in the penultimate match of the PRO Arch Trophy, he seemed set to pull on the first team jersey on a number of occasions.

But injury dogged his summer, and a bone spur on his ankle ultimately ended his it, playing some part in the club’s decision to recruit Derbyshire bowler Tom Lungley on a month’s loan spell during August.

Although, just before he went under the knife, he was selected as one of the five bowlers to take on the responsibility of dragging Lancashire through a nervy bowl-out in the quarter-final of the Twenty20 Cup against Somerset at Old Trafford.

He was not in the original squad for the match, which saw three days of rain, but he was the only Red Rose bowler to hit the stumps as the Sabres famously won out comfortably.

A product of Lancashire's youth system, Cheetham is a tall bowler with a whippy action, who initially came to prominence with his performances in the Central Lancashire League for Radcliffe CC - and for Lancashire's representative youth teams.

He joined the Lancashire Academy in 2005, and has progressed through the club's scholarship programme to gain a full-time contract in 2009.

The Oldham-born youngster had already made his first-class and one-day debuts for Lancashire in 2008, impressing in Friends Provident Trophy outings at Durham (where Dale Benkenstein was his first wicket) and Derbyshire. He was also included in the side for a Pro40 match at Hampshire in August, but rain curtailed the home side's innings after a couple of overs.

Ahead of the 2009 season, Cheetham returned to Australia for his second successive winter with Melbourne side Cheltenham. He would no doubt have done the same ahead of the 2010 season, but that ankle injury still needed some rest.

Barring another bout of bad luck, Lancashire fans will surely see a lot more of Cheetham in the seasons to come.

Graham Hardcastle
(c) Lancashire CCC
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