Durham-born Karl Turner began his cricket career with his home county, playing for Durham Academy in 2004 and progressing into the Second eleven the following season. After five years with Durham he was released at the end of 2010, without having made a First-Class or List-A appearance. He had trials with Hampshire and Derbyshire in early 2011 before joining Nottinghamshire where he was offered a short-term contract for the rest of the season.
A 23-year old left-handed opening batsman, Turner marked his first game for Notts Seconds in June 2011 with an innings of 98 against Northamptonshire’s second string at Finedon. He followed this with 185 against MCC Universities and 101 in a Second Eleven Trophy match. These innings earned him his First-Class debut in a County Championship match in August against his native county at Chester-le-Street. In a rare occurrence, two debutants opened for Notts with Sam Kelsall joining Turner at the top of the innings.
Turner scored 40 in the second innings of his debut match and stayed in the side for the remaining four Championship matches of the season. In those five matches, he scored 227 runs in nine innings, with a top score of 64 coming against Sussex at Trent Bridge. He also started in two List-A matches, scoring 22 runs.
On the back of these performances, Turner was offered a one-year contract for 2012. He appeared regularly in Second Eleven cricket, where he scored 574 runs in the Second Eleven Championship at an average of over 50, but he was not given the opportunity to add to his seven starts at senior level.
Karl Turner was released by Nottinghamshire at the end of the 2012 season. He played in the Minor Counties Championship for Northumberland in 2013 and for Cumberland in the next two seasons, before re-establishing himself in League cricket in the North East.
June 2020
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 618
See Karl Turner's career stats here