Tom Hartley

The son of Bill Hartley, who won 4 x 400m European Championship gold in 1974, Tom is a tall left-arm spinner who shot to prominence on England's Test tour of India in 2023-24. Selected primarily for his height and ability to drive the ball into the pitch, Hartley was a surprise pick for the tour along with Somerset's Shoaib Bashir. He endured a chastening first spell of the opening Test in Hyderabad, including a first-ball six off the bat of Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, his captain Ben Stokes stuck by him, and was rewarded with second-innings figures of 7 for 62 as England sealed a famous win.

Though India battled back to take the series 4-1, Hartley emerged with credit as England's leading wicket-taker with 22 at 36.13, and was subsequently picked for the T20 World Cup squad.

His breakthrough at domestic level came for Lancashire in the shortened summer of 2020: injuries and international call-ups gave him the opportunity to play four Bob Willis Trophy games, and he was selected as part of a three-pronged spin attack which led Lancashire to Finals Day.

Hartley's two main assets in T20 cricket are his height and his accuracy, and his form in his first full Blast season earned him a deal in the inaugural season of the Hundred for Manchester Originals. He hails from Ormskirk, and was a regular playing club cricket for them in the Liverpool and District Cricket Competition as a teenager.

ESPNcricinfo staff