Ian Richards (English cricketer)

Ian Michael Richards (born 9 December 1957) is a former English cricketer. Richards was a left-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium pace. He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham.

Richards made his first-class debut for Northamptonshire against Oxford University in 1976. He played first-class cricket for Northamptonshire from 1976 to 1979, making 23 first-class appearances.^[1] In his first-class career for the county, he scored 467 runs at an average of 22.23, with a high score of 50.^[2] This score, his only first-class fifty, came against Nottinghamshire in 1976.^[3] With the ball, he took 7 wickets at a bowling average of 28.71, with best figures of 4/57.^[4] His List A debut also came in 1976, when Northamptonshire played Nottinghamshire in the John Player League. Richards made nine further List A appearances for the county, the last of which came against Yorkshire in the 1979 John Player League.^[5] In his ten List A matches for Northamptonshire, he scored 44 runs at an average of 8.80, with a high score of 18.^[6] With the ball, he took 2 wickets at an average of 76.00, with best figures of 1/22.^[7]

He later joined Durham, making his debut for the county in the 1981 Minor Counties Championship, playing a match each against Shropshire. He played Minor counties cricket for Durham in 1981 and 1982, making six appearances.^[8] He made a single List A appearance for the county in the 1982 NatWest Trophy against Surrey.^[5] In this match, he scored 9 runs before being dismissed by Kevin Mackintosh, with Surrey winning by 111 runs.^[9]