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Craig Kieswetter (born 28 November 1987) is a former cricketer who appeared in 71 matches for England between 2010 and 2013. A wicket-keeper batsman, born and raised in South Africa, Kieswetter moved to England to complete his education, and began playing county cricket for Somerset in 2007. Three years later, only two weeks after qualifying for the England cricket team, he made his international debut in a One Day International (ODI) against Bangladesh. He was considered a one-day specialist, and all his international appearances came in ODIs or Twenty20 Internationals. He retired from professional cricket in June 2015, aged 27, due to an eye injury suffered while batting in 2014. Kieswetter played junior cricket for Western Province until the age of 18, but a lack of progression led him to seek an alternative route in England. He studied at Millfield, where he was spotted by Somerset. The county's lack of a strong wicket-keeper gave Kieswetter his opportunity, and he made his debut for the team early in the 2007 season. He was qualified to play county cricket as his mother was Scottish, and his performances soon generated discussion about his potential to play for England. The captain of South Africa, Graeme Smith, made overtures to Kieswetter, inviting him to return to play in South Africa; Kieswetter, however, affirmed his desire to qualify and play for England. In early 2010, Kieswetter achieved his target; some strong performances for the England Lions, especially in a match against the senior England team, won him a place in the squad to face Bangladesh. His selection, along with the presence of other South African-born players in the England team, was criticised, with some suggesting that there should be fewer foreign-born players in the team. He scored his first—and only—international century in his third match, and a couple of months later he was named as the man of the match as England won the final of the 2010 ICC World Twenty20. After a promising start for England, he was inconsistent and was dropped before the end of 2010. He returned to the team the following year, but his place in the team was always at risk, and in 2013 he was replaced by Jos Buttler, his team-mate at Somerset. Kieswetter's career was cut short due to an injury sustained while batting for Somerset in July 2014: a ball penetrated the gap between his helmet's grille and visor and struck him in the face, damaging his vision. There was initially some hope of a full recovery and he was even named in a provisional England squad for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, however he continued to experience difficulties with his vision and, in June 2015, announced his retirement from professional cricket. ==Early life and career== Kieswetter was born in Johannesburg to an Afrikaner father, Wayne, and Scottish mother, Belinda. He grew up in South Africa, studying at Diocesan College in Cape Town, and played cricket for Western Province junior teams between the ages of 13 to 18. Kieswetter was disappointed with the way he was treated by the provincial team, who had asked him to play two or three years of club cricket before returning to them, so he decided to pursue his cricket career in England.〔 He studied for a year at Millfield, where he gained his A-levels. Mark Davis, a former Somerset bowler, spotted him at Millfield, and he was quickly signed by the county. He represented South Africa in the 2006 Under-19s World Cup in Sri Lanka, and won a Man of the Match award in the game against the United States for his innings of 80 off just 66 balls. Kieswetter made his first appearance for Somerset's second team in May 2006, taking over from Sam Spurway as wicket-keeper midway through a match when the latter was injured. He scored 94 not out in his first innings of that match against Glamorgan, and by the end of the season he had scored at an average of over 40. His performances were so strong that Somerset chose to release Spurway at the start of the 2007 season, and named Kieswetter alongside Carl Gazzard as their two wicket-keepers. In early April that year, he made his one-day debut for Somerset against Glamorgan; he made 69 not out off 58 deliveries and took a catch described as "world class" by Somerset's director of cricket, Brian Rose.〔 He made his first-class debut the following month, keeping wicket while Derbyshire made 801 for 8 declared and scored 63 in the Somerset reply. He continued to perform well during 2007 and 2008, and was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award, as the "most promising young player", for Somerset in both seasons,〔 scoring regular fifties in both first-class and one-day cricket. Notable among these innings was the 93 he scored against Glamorgan while batting at number eight. Kieswetter came in after two wickets had been lost in an over, with the score at 250 for 6. His innings, which included a partnership of 130 with Andrew Caddick, helped Somerset to reach 402 and eventually win the match. Towards the end of the 2008 season, during a 40-over match against Gloucestershire, Kieswetter scored his first century for Somerset, scoring from , and sharing a competition-record 302-run partnership with Marcus Trescothick.〔 In 2009, Kieswetter passed 1,000 first-class runs in a season for the only time during his career.〔 He scored his maiden first-class century early in the year, accumulating an unbeaten 150 in a high-scoring draw against Warwickshire. A few weeks later, he repeated the feat, scoring against Durham to help his county avoid defeat. In his report for ''ESPNcricinfo'', Andrew McGlashan described Kieswetter as "another likely South African to make the transition to England colours". Kieswetter scored two further first-class centuries during the year, both at Taunton, against Sussex and Lancashire; he averaged just under 60 for his 1,242 first-class runs in the year.〔 In one-day cricket, Kieswetter opened the batting alongside Trescothick, and averaged 65.83, scoring an unbeaten 138 off just 131 balls in the opening group match against Warwickshire. In the quarter-final of the 2009 Friends Provident Trophy, Kieswetter scored his second one-day century of the season, but Somerset were defeated by six wickets and knocked out of the competition. His in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup helped Somerset reach the final of that competition, where they were again beaten by Sussex. He was awarded his county cap during the final game of the 2009 County Championship against Worcestershire. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Craig Kieswetter」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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