When Richard Gleeson made his international debut in the second T20I against India at the age of 34, he became England 's oldest debutant since wicketkeeper Paul Nixon in 2007.
It was the culmination of a long and difficult journey for the quick, who did not make his professional debut until he was 27 and has had to battle back from a career-threatening injury. At the age of 26, Gleeson had all but given up on playing professional cricket, having combined playing for minor county Cumberland with work at a boiler factory, a landscape gardening company and a fishing tackle shop.
He later landed a coaching job with the Lancashire Cricket Board, before going on trial at Northamptonshire. Gleeson made his debut in 2015 in a tour match against Australia and notably picked up the wickets of Shaun and Mitchell Marsh, helping him earn a short-term deal with the county and he has not looked back since.
