Date of birth – 19 November 1986 Warrington, Cheshire
Nottinghamshire First-Class Debut – 4 May 2010 v Hampshire (Southampton)
The 2017 season will be Steven Mullaney’s eighth in Nottinghamshire colours and he has few challengers to the claim of most consistent performer in that time.
A regular in all three formats of the game, the former Lancashire all-rounder is a selfless cricketer, happy to perform in whatever capacity his county need him to.
He announced his arrival with a bang, scoring a debut century for Notts in 2010, whilst batting at eight in the order. Since then he has been shuffled up and down the order, compiling over 5,000 runs along the way.
His stature within the squad was confirmed last summer when he took over the captaincy during Chris Read’s enforced injury absence.
Mullaney has differing roles; depending upon the competition. In the Championship he took on the challenge of opening when no-one else wanted to, and has become one of the most reliable around.
Like a fine wine, he continues to improve with the passing years – and delivered his highest score for the county last year in making 165 against Somerset at Trent Bridge.
Although he occasionally turns his arm over in that format – and picks up useful scalps along the way (including the memorable dismissal of Surrey’s Kumar Sangakkara last season), his main bowling successes have come with the white ball.
A miserly economy rating and a cluster of wickets have been gathered with his ‘dibbly-dobblies’ – and most keen observers feel he is unlucky not to have earned some sort of international recognition along the way.