Tom Westley

• Profile

Earmarked as a talent from the age of 14, when he first joined the Essex Academy in 2003, Tom Westley’s graceful batting would see him progress to the first team just three summers later.

He was still a student at Durham University when he recorded his maiden First-Class century, a knock of 132 against Derby, but it was in 2014 that Tom truly made his mark.

He recorded centuries in each format, including T20 tons against Kent and Sussex and passed 1,000 runs in a season for the first time as he was named Essex Player of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year and Batter on the Year.

His form continued and, in 2016, a career-best 254 in the race for Division Two honours was part of 1,217 runs, seventh highest overall. Tom was rewarded for his performances with a call-up to England Lions and duly scored a ton against South Africa.

In the next season he would add 561 runs as part of Essex’s first County Championship title in 25 years and earn an England Test call-up, scoring a half-century on debut at South Africa at The Oval.

A stalwart of the County game, Tom has represented his boyhood club on over 450 occasions, making in excess of 20,000 runs and notching 38 centuries, winning the County Championship, Vitality Blast and Bob Willis Trophy.

The 34-year-old shows no signs of slowing down with nearly 2,000 runs coming in the previous two County Championship summers.

Follow Tom on X @westley21