Oakland, June 27: Former England fast bowler Liam Plunkett has added another chapter to his sporting career after making his professional baseball debut for the Oakland Ballers in the United States.
The 41-year-old, who was a member of England’s 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup-winning squad, featured for the Ballers in their Pioneer Baseball League fixture against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds on Friday.
Although Oakland suffered an 18-11 defeat at Raimondi Park, Plunkett made a promising first impression from the pitcher’s mound. He threw five pitches and claimed a strikeout by dismissing Josh Duarte in front of a crowd of 1,878 spectators.Having relocated to the United States five years ago, Plunkett currently plays for the San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket (MLC), the country’s premier T20 competition. However, he has yet to feature for the franchise in this season’s tournament.Speaking after the game, Plunkett described his pitching action as a blend of cricket bowling and traditional baseball pitching.“I’ve previously thrown ceremonial first pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins as part of my role as an MLC ambassador, but this was obviously much more serious,” he said.Plunkett also believes he has become the first English cricketer to appear in a professional baseball game. (Agencies)
