Robert Key Profile

Profile

Robert William Trevor Key was born 12 May 1979. He is an English cricketer. He is the captain of Kent County Cricket Club, and a former member of the England Test match and One Day International sides. Robert William Trevor Key is a right-handed opening batsman, Key made appearances at age-group level for Kent from the age of eleven, moving up until he made his first-class debut in 1998. He made appearances for England's youth sides, and was a member of the side which won the 1998 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Following a season of heavy run-scoring, Key was called up to the England A side in 1999. Cherry-cheeked Kent batsman Robert Key had been marked down for great things - not least by headline-writers spotting an easy pun a mile off - since he helped England win the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa early in 1998. His trademark shot is a back-foot biff through the covers, while his off-drive on the front foot pleases the purists too. For a while his waistline expanded along with his burgeoning batting reputation, and he was 16 stone and counting before Alec Stewart had a quiet word. Key played his first matches for Kent's second eleven in 1995, at the age of sixteen. He remained a regular in the second team throughout the 1996 season and first half of the 1997 season, by which time he had hit his first two centuries for a Kent representative side; an unbeaten 146 against Essex's second team, and an unbeaten 139 against Glamorgan's seconds.