Ashley Giles

Giles began as a fast bowler, but an early injury forced him to become a left-arm orthodox spinner (turning the ball away from right-handed batsmen, like a leg spinner). His ability to get the ball to turn has been criticised, but he is accurate and shows good variation. He can also use his height (6' 4") to extract plenty of bounce. He was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award during the 1996-1997 season. Since 2000-01, he has been England's first-choice spin bowler. He is also a useful tail-end batsman: he has scored three first-class centuries and has a Test average around 20, though he has never hit a Test century.

Until 2004, his most successful bowling had been in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In July 2004, he took 9-210 in the first Test at Lord's (including his 100th Test wicket, Brian Lara) and 9-122 in the second Test at Edgbaston, and was instrumental in England beating West Indies twice. In that series he gained the nickname "King of Spain", after a set of mugs ordered for his testimonial year had been erroneously printed with that slogan, instead of "King of Spin"^{[#endnote_kingofspin]}. He was, until that successful run of form, also gently derided by commentators: the BBC's Test Match Special commentator Henry Blofeld famously labelled him a "Wheelie Bin" because of his trundling run-up, much to Giles' disgust.^{[#endnote_bin]} Blofeld however, a traditionally affable character, insisted that the moniker was not malicious.

In 2005, he was named as one of five cricketers of the year by Wisden Cricketer's Almanack. In the 2005 Ashes series, Giles captured the wickets of all of the top Australian batsmen at least once during the series, hit the winning runs in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge to give England a 2-1 lead, and contributed a Test-best 59 runs and a century partnership with Kevin Pietersen to ensure the draw in the final Test at The Oval and a 2-1 series victory. However, his ten wickets in the series came at a relatively high average of 57.80.

In February 2006, a recurring hip injury forced Giles out of both the Test and ODI sections of England's tour to India that year. His number 8 spot was taken first by left-armer Ian Blackwell and then fast bowler Liam Plunkett, and Giles has admitted that the emerging left-arm spinner Monty Panesar is another threat to his place. In the final Test, veteran offie Shaun Udal replaced him, with some success.

Giles is a resident of Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, where he was recently made an honorary citizen by the mayor^{[#endnote_award]}.

In the 2006 New Year Honour's List, Ashley Giles was awarded an MBE for his role in the successful Ashes winning squad. He is married to a former Norwegian waitress, Stine Osland, and they have two children, Anders Fraser and Mathilde.

On the 24th April 2006, Giles gave an interview stating that although he had at one point feared his career might be in danger, he was now "a lot more confident and happy" after being diagnosed with a hernia^{[#endnote_injury]}.

Notes

1. ↑  Two hundred mugs were subsequently produced with King Juan Carlos on the other side and were snapped up by Warwickshire fans. [(BBC)] Fans during the Ashes series of 2005 also regularly sang "Viva España" in Giles's honour.
2. ↑  [TMS Edgbaston diary: Day three]
3. ↑  [Giles wins honorary citizen award]
4. ↑  [Giles sees end to injury crisis]

External link

• [Ashley Giles' Official Website]
• [Player Profile: ] from Cricinfo

Reference

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