Off-spinner Matt Carter burst into First-Class cricket with a dramatic start to his Nottinghamshire career. Making his debut at Taunton as a nineteen-year old in June 2015, Carter took 7-56 against Somerset, the best figures by a spin bowler on his Championship debut since 1938. When Carter took three further wickets in the second innings, he became the first Notts debutant to take 10 wickets in a match since 1847.
Matthew Carter was born in Lincoln on 26 May 1996. He played age-group cricket for his native county, as well as appearing in the Lincolnshire Premier League for Bracebridge Heath. Carter graduated into the senior Lincolnshire side, first playing in the Minor Counties Championship and Trophy competitions in 2013. He appeared for Notts Seconds in 2014, ahead of his First-Class debut the following season. At Trent Bridge, he joined his elder brother, pace bowler Andy, who was coming towards the end of a seven-year stint with Notts.
By the end of 2019, Matt Carter had started in a total of 14 First-Class matches and taken 39 wickets. With Trent Bridge rarely offering help to the spinner, all but one of his starts in the County Championship have come away from home. Three of his appearances have come at spin-friendly Taunton, where Carter was again amongst the wickets in 2018 when he claimed 5-113.
During the 2018 and 2019 seasons, Carter excelled in limited-overs cricket, establishing himself as one of the county’s most accomplished white ball spinners. In List-A cricket, he has taken 20 wickets in 13 matches, with a best return of 4-40 in his first List-A game for the county in the Royal London One-Day Cup against Warwickshire. His performances saw him selected for England Lions tour during the winter of 2018/19, when he played in three limited-overs matches against India A.
Carter was a regular in the Notts’ side in the T20 Blast of 2019. He claimed 14 wickets in 11 games, helping the Outlaws reach Finals Day, where he took 3-32 in his four overs in the semi-final. Often opening the bowling during the period of fielding restrictions, Carter had one of the best economy rates among all bowlers in that year’s competition.
He is a reliable fielder - thirteen catches to date in First-Class cricket and a further ten in the white-ball game - and his best batting is 33 in the Championship; 21no in List-A games and 16no in T20s.
Still only in his early Twenties, Matt Carter has shown his ability to contribute in all forms of the game and had hoped to show his worth in the game’s newest and shortest format when drafted by Trent Rockets for The Hundred.
June 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 635