Full Name

Jack David Shantry

Born

January 29, 1988, Shrewsbury, Shropshire

Age

36y 50d

Batting Style

Left hand Bat

Bowling Style

Left arm Medium

Playing Role

Bowler

RELATIONS

(brother),

(father)

Other

Umpire

The figure of fun who became a folk hero. Eyebrows were raised when Worcestershire signed Jack Shantry. A decent but unexceptional player in the local leagues, Shantry seemed to bowl with an impossibly awkward action and with a lack of pace that one journalist described as "somewhere between slow and stationary."

But Shantry had the last laugh. With hard work, self-belief, no little skill and the support of a benevolent environment, he developed into a fine county seamer with a record that defies the doubters. And with obvious enthusiasm for his task - on good days and bad - he gradually became a favourite of the Worcestershire supporters.

His lack of pace rendered Shantry a largely unfashionable cricketer, but his record was better than some left-armers destined for higher honours.

The younger brother of Adam Shantry, also a left-arm swing bowler whose increasingly impressive career with Northants, Warwickshire and Glamorgan was ended by injury, Jack developed through the Shropshire age-group teams. He claimed 10-wickets in a minor counties game in 2008 - his side, Shropshire, still lost - and broke into the Worcestershire side towards the end of 2009.

Blessed with a high action from his tall frame, excellent control and a natural nip away from the right hander, Shantry claimed a maiden five-wicket haul against Leicestershire in 2010. But it took time to cement his place in the side and after a modest 2011 (he claimed 14 first-class wicket at 45.28 apiece) and 2012 (15 at 28.20), it seemed his future was in the limited-overs game.

But he enjoyed a far better 2013 - he claimed 45 wickets at 26.28 including a haul of 7-69 against Essex the most eye-catching of several fine contributions - and an outstanding 2014 (56 wickets at 23.95). Meanwhile his economy-rate in List A cricket continued to drop and his batting continued to improve.

Shantry played a key role in unfancied Worcestershire's well-deserved promotion in 2014. As well as 5-53 against Surrey in June, he enjoyed a remarkable match against the same opposition in a September game that clinched promotion. Having taken 6-87, he came into to bat in his side's second innings with Worcestershire seven down and leading by just 34 and thrashed a maiden century from only 86 balls. Then with Surrey 106-1 and chasing 217, he claimed another four wickets to not only secure victory but register his maiden 10-wicket match. Bothamesque, was one apt description.

Back in Division One, he claimed an impressive 57 Championship wickets at a cost of only 25.08 in 2015 - only seven men in the division took more - but it wasn't enough to help his side avoid relegation.

Another startling Championship hundred came in 2016. Shantry turned the clock back to a match played more than 100 years earlier when scoring a career-best 106 in a remarkable Worcestershire recovery against Gloucestershire at New Road. He rushed to a second 50 from 14 balls in completing a hundred from No 10 - just as Dick Burrows had done in a similar transformation against the same opponents in 1907.

Injury forced him into retirement in 2017, but he continued his involvement in the game through umpiring.


George Dobell

Jack Shantry Career Stats

Bowling

FormatMatInnsBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
FC921601619777832667/6010/2629.252.8860.812122
List A737329992800924/294/2930.435.6032.5300
T20s908819302596924/334/3328.218.0720.9100

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAveBFSR100s50s4s6sCtSt
FC9211832164010619.06296155.382222624300
List A7333161883111.0526770.4100180180
T20s9023118712*7.259195.600063200

Umpire & Referee

FormatMatUmpire
FC1111
List A1414
T20s88

Recent Matches of Jack Shantry

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
WORCS vs Notts200/22 & 0/705-Sep-2017NottinghamFC
Worcs 2nd XI vs Warwcks 2nd--1/2003-Aug-2017WorcesterOTHERT20
WORCS vs Northants2*0/2627-Jul-2017NorthamptonT20
WORCS vs Notts9*0/3226-Jul-2017NottinghamT20
WORCS vs Yorkshire--1/4123-Jul-2017LeedsT20

Photos of Jack Shantry

Jack Shantry in mid-delivery
Jack Shantry
Jack Shantry bowled a tight first eight overs but failed to strike
Jack Shantry was given the second new ball
Jack Shantry celebrates a wicket
Jack Shantry got through the Yorkshire middle order