Jonathan Batty

Jonathan Neil Batty is an English cricketer currently playing for the Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. He was recognized after he gave exceptional performance as a wicket keeper and as a batsman, becoming a consistent performer for the Surrey team for more than a decade. Batty was a regular player in the success of the team, with the team winning three county championships.

Born in 1974 in Chesterfield, Batty left Durham University and joined Hampshire in 1995. As he was not retained, he stayed there and continued his football career in minor county cricket after which he was offered contracts with Surrey and Somerset. He was a third choice as a wicket keeper after Alec Stewart and Graham Kersey, as the latter had died in a car accident in Australia and Stewart was not available to the Surrey team due to England duties. So, Batty bagged the opportunity to participate in the regular first team action as an opener along with Mark Butcher.

In 2004, Batty captained the Surrey team which was a poor season, with the team getting demoted in the one day Pro40 tournament. The same year at the Oval, he equaled the world record by taking most of the catches in an innings with 8 against the Kent team. Later on, he even broke the record of most catches of Steve Rixon, former Surrey coach, in a match with 11 played against Lancashire. Batty was replaced as a captain by Mark Butcher. However, Batty retained his place and was awarded a benefit year in 2009 by the county.

In October 2009, it was announced that Batty would leave Surrey and will be joining Gloucestershire with a three year contract.

His List A debut was in 1994 with last played match being against Northamptonshire at Bristol in 2010. His Twenty20 debut was in 2003 against Middlesex at the Oval with last being played in 2010 against Essex at Chelmsford.

=== Career Highlights ===

Of the 212 First Class matches that he played, Batty scored 9417 runs with a batting average of 31.60. He made 20 centuries and 40 half centuries with his top score being 168. He bowled 78 balls with one wicket to his credit. His bowling average was 61.

With right to List A cricket matches, he played in 190 of them, scoring 2,877 runs and making batting average of 22.30. He achieved one century and 14 half centuries with his top score being 158.

With Twenty20 matches, he played 55 matches and scored 612 runs till date. His batting average was 21.10 and top score was 59.