Colin Croft

Personal information
Full name	Colin Everton Hunte Croft
Batting style	Right-hand bat
Bowling style	Right-arm fast
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1972–1982	Guyana
1975–1982	Demerara
1977–1982	Lancashire
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs
Matches	27	19
Runs scored	158	18
Batting average	10.53	9.00
100s/50s	-/-	-/-
Top score	33	8
Balls bowled	6165	1070
Wickets	125	30
Bowling average	23.30	20.66
5 wickets in innings	3	1
10 wickets in match	-	n/a
Best bowling	8/29	6/15
Catches/stumpings	8/-	1/-
Source: CricInfo, 25 January 2006

Colin Everton Hunte Croft (born 15 March 1953 in Demerara, British Guiana) is a former West Indian cricketer. He provides expert analysis on the British Broadcasting Corporation's Test Match Special.

Cricket career[link]

Croft was part of the potent West Indian quartet of fast bowlers from the late 70s and early 80s. With his height (6'5"), he bowled bouncers and was very aggressive. He was renowned for bowling wide of the crease over the wicket and angling the ball in to right-handers. Croft's figures of 8/29 against Pakistan in 1977 are still the best Test innings figures by a fast bowler from the West Indies.

Rebel Tour[link]

In 1982 Croft accepted a place on the rebel tour of apartheid-divided South Africa, in violation of an international ban on sports tours of the country. The rebel players were granted "honorary whites" status by the South African government to allow them access to all-white cricket playing areas.^[1] All the players who took part in the tour were banned for life from international cricket, thus marking the end of Croft's cricket playing career. That ban was effectively lifted in 1989, by both the WICB and the UN. Croft moved to the United States to avoid recriminations at home.^[2]

Teaching career[link]

Croft taught Maths at Lambrook Haileybury school in Winkfield, Berkshire, UK from 2007-2008 for one and a half terms. He never coached cricket at the school but frequently gave autographs to parents of pupils at the school.

Media career[link]

Since 1994, Croft has been doing cricket coverage part-time, as a commentator/analyst, and was one of the first writers for CricInfo, contributing over 500 articles so far to that entity. He has continued his sports journalism career everywhere that cricket is played, covering West Indies tours since 1994.

Croft's first overseas sports journalism sojourn was to the United Kingdom in 1995. During the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup Croft provided analysis for the BBC's Test Match Special radio coverage on all the Guyana based matches. He continued his analyst's role during the West Indies tour of England the same year.

In his private life, having been an Air Traffic Controller from 1973 to 1981, while also playing cricket for the West Indies cricket team, he has also obtained a Commercial Airline Pilot's licence in the USA, with endorsements for the UK, and worked as a Commercial Pilot in the Caribbean.

He also regularly appears as a studio guest on Sky Sports when West Indies are playing.

Notes[link]

v t e West Indies squad – World Series Cricket 1 Lloyd (c) 2 Allen 3 Austin 4 Croft 5 Daniel 6 Fredericks 7 Garner 8 Gibbs 9 Greenidge 10 Haynes 11 Holding 12 Holford 13 Julien 14 Kanhai 15 King 16 Murray (wk) 17 Padmore 18 Richards 19 Roberts 20 Rowe

Frederick Robert Goodall (born 1938) is a former international cricket umpire from New Zealand who officiated in 24 Tests and 15 one-day internationals between 1965 and 1988. His debut as One Day International umpire was at Christchurch in February 1973, in the first one-day cricket match played in New Zealand; he made his Test debut eight years earlier, also in Christchurch.

One of the most notorious matches involving Fred Goodall was the Second Test between New Zealand and West Indies at Christchurch's Lancaster Park in February 1980. Goodall had previously turned down several appeals against New Zealand batsmen, claiming unsubstantial evidence. So incensed with what the tourists considered poor umpiring, the West Indies refused to emerge from their dressing room after the tea break on Day 3, unless Goodall was immediately replaced. After a delay of twelve minutes, organisers managed to coax the tourists back onto the field for a spiteful third session. Goodall enjoyed the support of match organisers in New Zealand, and continued his role in the Test. This resulted in an even more spiteful fourth day, in which Goodall was, at one stage, shoulder-charged by bowler Colin Croft. West Indies manager Willie Rodriguez, in a press conference at the end of the series, later accused the umpires, including Goodall, of not being biased, but instead incompetent. West Indies captain Clive Lloyd later regretted not taking a firmer line with his players.

Fred Goodall continued officiating in Tests and one-day matches after the infamous Christchurch incident. His last match as umpire was a One Day International at Napier in March 1988.

External links[link]

• Cricinfo Profile
• Cricinfo's article on the West Indies' sour tour of New Zealand in 1979-80

This biographical article related to New Zealand cricket is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Sir Richard Hadlee

Personal information
Full name	Richard John Hadlee
Born	(1951-07-03) 3 July 1951 (age 60) St Albans, Christchurch, New Zealand
Nickname	Paddles
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Batting style	Left-handed batsman
Bowling style	Right-arm fast
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	New Zealand
Test debut (cap 127)	2 February 1973 v Pakistan
Last Test	5 July 1990 v England
ODI debut (cap 6)	11 February 1973 v Pakistan
Last ODI	25 May 1990 v England
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1971–1989	Canterbury
1978–1987	Nottinghamshire
1979–1980	Tasmania
Career statistics
Competition	Tests	ODIs	FC	List A
Matches	86	115	342	318
Runs scored	3124	1751	12052	5241
Batting average	27.16	21.61	31.71	24.37
100s/50s	2/15	0/4	14/59	1/16
Top score	151*	79	210*	100*
Balls bowled	21918	6182	67518	16188
Wickets	431	158	1490	454
Bowling average	22.29	21.56	18.11	18.83
5 wickets in innings	36	5	102	8
10 wickets in match	9	n/a	18	n/a
Best bowling	9/52	5/25	9/52	6/12
Catches/stumpings	39/0	27/0	198/0	100/0
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 1 September 2007

Sir Richard John Hadlee, MBE (born 3 July 1951) is a former New Zealand cricketer who played provincial cricket for Canterbury, Nottinghamshire and Tasmania. He is the son of Walter Hadlee, and the brother of Dayle and Barry Hadlee. His former wife Karen also played international cricket for New Zealand.

Hadlee was appointed MBE in 1980 and knighted in 1990 for services to cricket. He is a former chairman of the New Zealand board of selectors. He is regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers and all-rounders in cricketing history. In December 2002, he was chosen by Wisden as the second greatest Test bowler of all time.^[1] In March 2009, Hadlee was commemorated as one of the Twelve Local Heroes, and a bronze bust of him was unveiled outside the Christchurch Arts Centre.

On 3 April 2009, Sir Richard Hadlee was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[2]

Test career[link]

A bowling all-rounder, in an 86-Test career he took 431 wickets (at the time the world record), and was the first bowler to pass 400 wickets, with an average of 22.29, and made 3124 Test runs at 27.16, including two centuries and 15 fifties.

Hadlee is rated by many experts as the greatest exponent of bowling with the new ball. He was the master of (conventional) swing and was the original l Sultan of Swing. Along with Malcolm Marshall, Hadlee was seen as the finest fast bowler of his time, despite the contemporaneous presence of Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Kapil Dev and Wasim Akram among others.

As one of the four top all rounders of his time, the others being Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and Ian Botham, Hadlee was possibly the best bowler of them all, however his batting was generally considered weakest of the group.

Born in Christchurch, Hadlee made his first class debut for Canterbury in 1971/72 and his test match debut in 1973 - on both occasions, his first delivery was dispatched to the boundary. Hadlee was an inconsistent performer at test level for several years; however a breakthrough performance against India in 1976 in which he took 11 wickets in a game resulting in a win by New Zealand cemented his place in the side. In 1978, Hadlee helped New Zealand to a historic first win over England by taking 6 for 26 in England's second innings, bowling the visitors out for 64 chasing a target of 137.

In 1979/80, New Zealand faced the West Indies in a home test series at a time when the West Indies were a formidable world cricket power. In the first test in Dunedin New Zealand achieved a shock 1-wicket win, thanks in no small part to Hadlee's 11 wickets in the game. In the second test of the series, Hadlee recorded his maiden test century, helping New Zealand draw the test and win the series 1-0. The result was the start of a 12 year unbeaten home record for New Zealand in test match series. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1980 Queen's Birthday Honours.^[3]

A tour to England in 1983 saw New Zealand register their first ever test win on English soil, at Headingley. The match was remarkable for Hadlee's match return of 0 for 89, a very unusual occurrence in a New Zealand victory during his career. England eventually won the 4 test series 3-1, however Hadlee topped both batting and bowling averages for New Zealand in the series, and took his 200th test wicket in the final test at Nottingham. In the return test series in New Zealand in 1984, New Zealand completed a remarkable 3 day innings victory (including one day lost to rain) over England at Christchurch, in which England were dismissed for less than 100 in both of their innings. The match was also notable for Hadlee's superb all round performance - he took 8 wickets in the match, and scored a rapid-fire 99 in New Zealand's only innings.

1985/86 brought on a period in which Hadlee developed from a very good fast bowler to a truly great one. In New Zealand's tour to Australia, an outstanding all-round performance helped destroy the home team in the first test at Brisbane, beginning with a personal test best 9 for 52 in Australia's first innings. A batting effort of 54 (to complement a fine 188 by Martin Crowe) combined with 6 more wickets in Australia's second innings, helped New Zealand to a crushing innings victory. Hadlee followed this up with 7 wickets in a loss in the second test, and 11 wickets in a New Zealand victory in the third test, giving his country their first series win on Australian soil and a personal haul of 33 wickets in 3 tests. In the first test of the return series in New Zealand, Hadlee took his 300th test wicket by trapping Australian captain Allan Border LBW. The series was eventually won 1-0 by New Zealand by way of a victory in the third test at Eden Park.

In 1986 Hadlee helped New Zealand to a 1-0 series win in England, their first over that country in England. Hadlee's outstanding personal performance in the second test at Nottingham (his county 'home') where he took 10 wickets and scored 68 in New Zealand's first innings powered his team to victory. In this test Hadlee, often a controversial character, added to this side of his reputation when he felled (and hospitalised) England wicketkeeper and Nottinghampshire teammate Bruce French with a nasty bouncer. During the New Zealand v West Indies test at Christchurch in March 1987, Hadlee and captain Jeremy Coney had a disagreement in the dressing room prior to the game. It progressed to not talking to each other on the field, communicating through John Wright at mid-on.^[4][5]

In April 1987, New Zealand traveled to Sri Lanka where Hadlee recorded his second test century. His 151 not out in the first test helped New Zealand to save the game, however the tour was unfortunately cut short due to a bomb exploding near the New Zealand team's hotel in Colombo. The terrorist bomb responsible for killing 113 civilians was planted by the Tamil Tigers separatist movement and was not targeted towards the touring New Zealand cricket team. However, the team voted overwhelmingly to return home after just one test of the scheduled three test tour.

Hadlee's appetite for competition against Australia surfaced again in 1987/88, when in the third test of a 3 match series in Australia he captured 10 wickets and nearly inspired New Zealand to an unlikely series equaling victory. The test ended with Australia's number eleven batsman Michael Whitney surviving a torrid last over bowled by an exhausted Hadlee. A wicket in that over would have given New Zealand victory, and Hadlee a world record 374th test wicket, breaking current holder Ian Botham's record. In the following home series against England, the New Zealand public eagerly anticipated the wicket which would give Hadlee sole possession of the world record. However, Hadlee broke down injured on the first day of the first test, and was forced to sit out the rest of the series. At an awards dinner at the end of the season, Australian commentator Richie Benaud, upon seeing Hadlee hobble up to the stage on crutches, said later that he thought Hadlee "would never play cricket again."

However, after a successful rehabilitation, the next opportunity for Hadlee to claim the test wicket world record was against India in India in 1988. After touring India in 1976 Hadlee, plagued by stomach troubles, had decided never to play cricket there again, however the opportunity to make history was too strong a lure to pass up. He duly captured the record, and his 374th test wicket, in the first test of the series. In the second test a 10 wicket haul helped New Zealand to a rare test win in India, however the series was eventually lost 2-1.

In a home series against India in 1989/90, Hadlee become the first bowler in history to take 400 test wickets when he dismissed Sanjay Manjrekar in the second innings of the first test. Shortly after helping New Zealand to another test victory over Australia at Wellington by taking his 100th first class 5 wicket haul in an innings, Hadlee announced that he would be retiring after the upcoming tour to England.

Shortly before the second test of the series in England at Lords, it was announced that Hadlee was to be knighted for his services to cricket. Hadlee did not have his knighthood conferred on him while still a test cricketer: Though the honour was announced in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 16 June 1990,^[6] it was only conferred on 4 October 1990,^[7] some months after his last test match on 10 July 1990. (Lt.-Col. Sir Maharajkumar Dr. Vijayananda Gajapathi Raju (better known as the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or Vizzy) is the only person to have a knighthood conferred on him for services to cricket while an active test cricketer, in 1936. Unlike Hadlee however, Vizzy's knighthood was conferred for his administrative efforts, not his services to cricket as a player.) Hadlee celebrated the achievement by scoring 86 in New Zealand's first innings and winning the man of the match award. In the final test of the series, Hadlee ended his test career by taking 5 wickets in his final bowling performance, and taking a wicket with the final ball of his test career.

Nottinghamshire career[link]

For Nottinghamshire, on often overgrassed Trent Bridge pitches, he gained some analyses that are remarkable in an era of covered pitches, notably his eight for 22 against Surrey in 1984. He represented Nottinghamshire between 1978 and 1987, but played only three full seasons due to injuries and Test calls. However, his bowling figures for those three seasons were quite remarkable:

• 1981: 4252 balls, 231 maidens, 1564 runs, 105 wickets for 14.89 each.
• 1984: 4634 balls, 248 maidens, 1645 runs, 117 wickets for 14.05 each.
• 1987: 3408 balls, 186 maidens, 1154 runs, 97 wickets for 11.89 each (the lowest average since 1969).

In the 1984 county season, Hadlee completed a feat rare in the modern age by doing the county 'double' - scoring 1000 runs and taking 100 wickets in the same season. Hadlee, and his immediate successor at Nottinghamshire Franklyn Stephenson, are the only two players to achieve this feat in English county cricket since the number of county games per season was reduced in 1969. The runs component of the double included Hadlee's highest first class score, 210* in a victory over Middlesex at Lord's.

Canterbury career[link]

Because of seasonal differences, Hadlee also played provincial cricket in New Zealand, representing Canterbury.

The north stand of AMI Stadium is named the Hadlee stand after both Richard Hadlee and other members of the Hadlee family who have made contributions to Canterbury and New Zealand cricket. The Chappell–Hadlee Trophy in which New Zealand and Australia regularly compete in one-day matches, is named after the Chappell family of Australia and the Hadlee family of New Zealand.

Hadlee was also a competent association football player, playing for southern league team Rangers A.F.C. in Christchurch.

Sporting Awards[link]

Hadlee has received many awards throughout his career, including:^[8]

• Appointed MBE for services to New Zealand sport in 1981.
• Awarded a Knighthood for services to cricket in 1990.
• Winner of the Windsor Cup on 13 occasions, including 12 consecutive years, for the most meritorious bowling performance of the season.
• New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1980
• New Zealand Sportsman of the Year 1986
• New Zealand Sportsperson of the last 25 years 1987 (shared with runner, John Walker)
• New Zealand Sportsperson of the Decade 1987
• Inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009
• Awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from Nottingham University.

He also came 12th Best Cricketer of all time in ESPN Legends Of Cricket.

Bowling style[link]

Hadlee was a right-arm pace bowler. Initially extremely fast, as the years progressed he gained accuracy, movement off the wicket and in the air, and a reputation that probably gained him quite a few wickets on its own. Perhaps his most potent delivery was the often unplayable outswinger, which became his main weapon in the latter stages of his career.

Hadlee modelled his bowling action on the great Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee, whom he regarded as his bowling role model. It was common for Hadlee to think about how to dismiss batsmen by wondering 'what would Lillee do?'.

His economical action was notable for his close approach to the wicket at the bowler's end (to the point where he occasionally knocked the bails off in his approach), a line which meant he was able to trap many batsmen leg before wicket. He broke the Test-wicket taking record with his 374th wicket on 12 November 1988. His 400th Test wicket was claimed on 4 February 1990, and with his last Test delivery, on 9 July 1990, he dismissed Devon Malcolm for a duck.

Batting style[link]

Hadlee was an aggressive left-handed middle-order batsman. Though his record wasn't as strong against top international bowlers, he was effective at punishing lesser attacks. He finished his career scoring 15 Test fifties and two Test centuries, and so much so that for Nottinghamshire in 1984, 1986 and 1987 he averaged over 50 (only W.G. Grace and George Herbert Hirst have come comparably close to heading both batting and bowling averages in a season).

The Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust[link]

In August 1990, Hadlee established The Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust. It was opened to help sportsmen and women who were in situations of hardship to strive for success in their chosen sporting or cultural discipline. The criteria for the Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust are: the applicant must be under the age of 25, the applicant must be from the region of Canterbury New Zealand, the request for assistance is specifically for sporting or cultural purposes and applicant is disadvantaged, facing hardship or has special circumstances which prevent him or her from pursuing his or her sporting or cultural endeavors. The Sir Richard Hadlee Sports Trust relies on the generosity of the community, as well as its corporate sponsors; CTV, Lion Nathan, News Talk ZB, Pernod Ricard, Pope Print, PR South and Vbase.^[9]

Mental health[link]

Due to the enormous stress Hadlee was under, in 1983 he experienced mental health problems. This was due to his international cricket career, many public speaking engagements (up to 12 a week) and his responsibilities to the New Zealand Cricket Council coaching committee (Hadlee was required to do three weeks of fast bowling tuition).^[10]

With the close support of his family, Hadlee cancelled all his appointments for two weeks, and took a holiday to Rarotonga, where he ran into his great cricketing rival Dennis Lillee. The two talked about the pressures of international cricket, and in particular, carrying the hopes of their respective nations. After ten days of peace and quiet, Hadlee returned to New Zealand and had sessions with motivational expert Grahame Felton.^[11] After a week with Felton, Hadlee felt he was making great progress. Hadlee returned to domestic cricket, scoring 90 runs and taking four wickets in his first match back. After this positive result he told the cricket council that he would be available for the up-coming England series, in which he did well. In the 4 innings Hadlee scored 144 runs with a high score of 99. Hadlee bowled 232 overs, with 65 maidens and took 21 wickets.^[10]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Player profile: Richard Hadlee from ESPNcricinfo

v t e New Zealand squad – 1975 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Turner (c) 2 Cairns 3 Collinge 4 BG Hadlee 5 DR Hadlee 6 RJ Hadlee 7 Hastings 8 GP Howarth 9 HJ Howarth 10 McKechnie 11 Morrison 12 Parker 13 Wadsworth (wk)

v t e New Zealand squad – 1979 Cricket World Cup Semi-Finalists 1 Burgess (c) 2 Cairns 3 Chatfield 4 Coney 5 Edgar 6 Hadlee 7 Howarth 8 Lees (wk) 9 McKechnie 10 Morrison 11 Stott 12 Troup 13 Turner 14 Wright

v t e New Zealand squad – 1983 Cricket World Cup 1 Howarth (c) 2 Bracewell 3 Cairns 4 Chatfield 5 Coney 6 JJ Crowe 7 MD Crowe 8 Edgar 9 Hadlee 10 Lees (wk) 11 Smith (wk) 12 Snedden 13 Turner 14 Wright

Michael Anthony Holding (born 16 February 1954) is a former West Indian cricketer. One of the fastest bowlers ever to play Test cricket, he was nicknamed "Whispering Death" by umpires due to his quiet approach to the bowling crease. His bowling was smooth and very fast, and he used his height (6 ft 3 ¹⁄₂ in/1.918 m) to generate large amounts of bounce and zip off the pitch. He was part of the fearsome West Indian pace battery, together with Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Sylvester Clarke, Colin Croft, Wayne Daniel and the late Malcolm Marshall that devastated batting line-ups in the world throughout the seventies and early eighties.

In June 1988 Holding was celebrated on the $2 Jamaican stamp alongside the Barbados Cricket Buckle.

Career[link]

Bowler[link]

During his First class cricket career, Holding played for Jamaica, Canterbury, Derbyshire, Lancashire and Tasmania.

Holding was the bowler in what is often described as "the greatest over in Test history", which he bowled in 1981 in Bridgetown to English batsman Geoff Boycott. The first five balls increased in pace, causing Boycott to have to react very rapidly to avoid being hit. The final ball saw Boycott clean bowled, to the great delight of the crowd.^[1]

According to an urban myth, during a Test match between the West Indies and England when Holding was to bowl to English player Peter Willey, the commentator at the time, Brian Johnston, described the action as "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey" (a double entendre, as "willy" is English slang for a penis). However Wisden states that there is no record of Johnston or anyone else actually saying this^[2] (although a colleague of Johnston's, Henry Blofeld, recalls the incident occurring during a test match at The Oval in 1976.)^[3]

In a limited-overs international between England and West Indies on 26 August 1976 at Scarborough, Michael Holding's return from long-leg deflected off the nearer wicket and scuttled along the pitch to break the far one with Graham Barlow and Alan Knott, on his only appearance as England's captain, stranded in mid-pitch. The dumbfounded umpires, David Constant and Arthur Jepson, rejected the run-out appeal for reasons that remain obscure.

A less amusing incident for which Holding is also remembered was kicking over the stumps in anger at an umpiring decision in New Zealand in 1979/80. The tour had gone poorly almost from the beginning: West Indies had just finished a long tour of Australia, and were perhaps resentful about having a tour to unglamorous New Zealand immediately afterwards (their leading batsman of the time, Viv Richards, refused to tour).^[4] West Indies felt that the umpiring had been incompetent and against them throughout. After an appeal for caught behind was turned down, Holding turned and kicked the stumps in frustration.^[4]

Despite modest batting talent, he holds the record for the most sixes in a Test career for any player with fewer than 1000 career runs. He hit 36 sixes in his Test career, placing him at 32 in the all-time list. Remarkably almost a quarter of his Test runs came by way of sixes.

Broadcaster/commentator[link]

Holding's career evolved after his retirement from active play. He became a broadcaster as a member of the Sky Sports cricket commentary team.

On 5 July 2008, Holding resigned from his post on the ICC cricket committee because he was unhappy with the ICC's decision to change the result of the 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan from a forfeited win for England to a draw.

Holding felt that Pakistan's refusal to play should not go unpunished even though they were not guilty of ball-tampering.

"I have just written my letter of resignation to the ICC cricket committee because I cannot agree with what they've done," Holding said while commentating for Sky Sports during a domestic match in England. "That game should never, ever be a draw. When you take certain actions, you must be quite happy to suffer the consequences.

"A lot of things are happening today that I don't want to be involved with, so I've moved on."

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Greatest over in Test History at Cricinfo
• Picture taken after THAT over
• Video and Holding's analysis of THAT over
• Michael Holding's Profile at Cricinfo

v t e West Indies squad – World Series Cricket 1 Lloyd (c) 2 Allen 3 Austin 4 Croft 5 Daniel 6 Fredericks 7 Garner 8 Gibbs 9 Greenidge 10 Haynes 11 Holding 12 Holford 13 Julien 14 Kanhai 15 King 16 Murray (wk) 17 Padmore 18 Richards 19 Roberts 20 Rowe

Colin Turkington
Colin Turkington in 2011.
Nationality	British
Born	(1982-03-21) March 21, 1982 (age 30) Portadown (Northern Ireland)
Related to	Gary Turkington (brother)
2012 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship
Debut season	2011
Current team	Flash Engineering
Car no.	5
Starts	18
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	5th in 2011
Previous series
2002-09 2000–01 2010	BTCC Ford Fiesta Cup World Touring Car Championship
Championship titles
2009 2001	BTCC Ford Fiesta Cup
Awards
2009 2009	Autosport National Driver of the Year Craigavon Sports Personality of The Year

Colin Henry Turkington (born 21 March 1982) is a Northern Irish auto racing driver. His most notable success to date was becoming 2009 British Touring Car Champion driving for Team RAC. Most recently he has competed in the 2010 World Touring Car Championship driving a BMW 320si for West Surrey Racing (WSR). For 2011, Turkington will compete in the inaugural Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) driving a BMW for Flash Engineering.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Turkington, who was born in Portadown, began his racing career in the Ulster Karting series in 1993.^[1] He competed in autograss in 1996 and 1997,^[1] before moving on to the Northern Irish Metro Championship in 1998, where he won his first title.^[1] He moved on to the Ford Credit Fiesta Zetec Championship on mainland Britain in 1999, winning the title in 2001.^[1]

British Touring Car Championship[link]

Turkington driving the Team RAC-run MG at Brands Hatch in 2006.

Turkington driving the Team RAC-run BMW at Oulton Park in 2007.

Turkington driving the Team RAC-run BMW at Croft in 2008, where he won two of the three races.

Team Atomic Kitten (2002)[link]

Turkington was able to move on to the BTCC in 2002. His first BTCC drive was in a year-old MG sponsored by the pop group Atomic Kitten, partnering fellow Fiesta graduate Gareth Howell. He finished 14th overall in the standings, and 6th in the Independents class.

West Surrey Racing (2003–04)[link]

For 2003, Turkington moved to the manufacturer-backed team West Surrey Racing (WSR), winning his first race at Brands Hatch and finishing 8th in the championship. Despite the loss of official MG backing he finished 6th in 2004, adding another win to his tally at his home circuit of Mondello Park.

Vauxhall (2005)[link]

For 2005 he replaced champion James Thompson at Vauxhall. While Yvan Muller challenged for the title, Turkington finished in 6th place, despite taking pole at the season-opener.^[2] This performance was not good enough for him to retain the seat for the following season.

WSR (2006–2009)[link]

For 2006, he rejoined WSR to drive an RAC backed MG ZS alongside Rob Collard, driving car number 6. A strong first half of the season made him the closest challenger to Matt Neal for the title,^[3] although Jason Plato pipped him to 2nd overall in the final race of the year due to some bad luck when in strong scoring positions. Late in the season the team switched to bio-ethanol fuel,^[4] nearly becoming the first team to win a race with it. Overall he took 2 wins and 14 podiums.

For 2007 the MG was no longer eligible to win the championship outright, so the team switched to the BMW 320si. Tom Onslow-Cole joining Turkington as the second driver. His first win (and BMW's first in the BTCC for over a decade) came in round four at Croft,^[5] where he also took a third place finish.^[6] After the team swept the front row at Snetterton,^[7] he won race one, only to be disqualified as the car was underweight.^[8] He went on to win his first Independent Drivers' title, finishing fifth overall with three wins.