Delray Rawlins

Delray Rawlins announced himself as a future star with a series of eye-catching innings in Sussex's T20 middle-order, and his clean hitting, useful fingerspin and superb fielding make him a desirable all-round package across formats.

Rawlins initially came through the Bermuda system as a talented left-arm spinner. He made his full international debut as a 15-year-old in 2013, and took 5 for 51 on his Bermuda U-19 debut two months later. By then, he had landed a scholarship to attend St Bede's School in Eastbourne, starting him on the road to an academy contract at Sussex. He continued to develop as an allrounder during his teenage years, and launched his England U-19 career in January 2017 by scoring an unbeaten 107 off 88 balls and taking 2 for 46 on debut in Mumbai.

England continued to keep close tabs on his development, picking him for the North vs South series in Barbados in early 2018 before he had played a One-Day Cup game for Sussex, and he caught the attention of the wider cricketing public in that season's T20 Blast, hitting 49 on debut at Lord's before playing the shot of the summer, a jaw-dropping straight drive, against Durham in the quarter-finals.

In 2019, Rawlins balanced county cricket with international commitments, jetting off home to drag Bermuda to the T20 World Cup qualifiers during the Blast, but hit a maiden first ton at Old Trafford from 99 balls. Although his returns over the next couple of years were patchy, he made a career-best 91 against Gloucestershire as Sussex reached the semi-finals of the 2022 Royal London Cup - with Rawlins also contributing 14 wickets. A few months later he hammered another CB in a T20I for Bermuda: 91 off just 33 balls in Buenos Aires.

Once the shortest player on the age-group circuit, he now stands at over 6ft tall, and powerful hitting is a defining feature of his game.
ESPNcricinfo staff