ESPN CricInfo Highlights Delray Rawlins
Calling him “Sussex’s big-hitting Bermudian,” ESPN’s Cricinfo website has featured Bermuda’s Delray Rawlins, saying it has “not taken long for him to garner the reputation of being a big-game player.”
The story said, “It is difficult to slip under the radar when your name is Delray Millard Wendell Rawlins, and Sussex’s big-hitting Bermudian has made no attempts to do that in his fledgling career.
“His record in this year’s Vitality T20 Blast might not look spectacular in its own right – 164 runs at 27.33 and a strike rate of 147.74 – but it would be foolish to view at Rawlins’ career to date through the lens of numbers alone.
“After all, this is a man who made his international debut as a diminutive 15-year-old; a man who was picked to represent the South after just one List A game; and man whose innings in Sussex’s quarter-final win against Durham caught the eye of so many fans that he had to turn off his Twitter notifications. It has not taken long for him to garner the reputation of being a big-game player.
“Rawlins has quickly developed the knack of playing attention-grabbing innings at the perfect time. His debut in the shortest form came in front of 20,000 fans at Lord’s, and his 35-ball 49 featured a reverse-swept six off Ashton Agar that stunned the majority into silent disbelief.
“A televised 35 against Glamorgan followed two weeks later in the first of three must-win games for Sussex in their quarter-final bid, and if a hold-the-pose straight drive down the ground in that innings at Chester-le-Street was the main cause of his phone’s explosion that evening, his calmness in a match-winning partnership with Laurie Evans was that of a seasoned campaigner.
“Something else that sets Rawlins apart is the regularity with which he hits early boundaries. His strike rate after five balls of an innings is 196.29, making him the world’s fastest starter this year after Birmingham’s pinch-hitting opener Ed Pollock.”
You can read the full story here on ESPN Cricinfo.
