Sam Billings

Samuel William Billings is an English cricketer born on June 15, 1991, in Pembury, Kent. Billings is a right-handed wicket-keeper batter by nature and is also known for his brilliant fielding antics. Such is his skill in the outfield, that he is sometimes seen abandoning the gloves to save some runs on the boundary for his side.

Billings is also known for his support towards developing cricket by charitable organizations worldwide. He has worked with disabilities cricket teams and is a patron of cricket in Rwanda, Africa.

Sam Billings: Along the Years

Sam Billings Records

• First and only captain to lift two titles in The Hundred

• First and only captain to defend its title in The Hundred

Sam Billings Awards and Accolades

• Player Of The Year by Spitfire Kent Cricket Awards 2014

• Catch Of The Season Award in International League T20 (ILT20) 2024

Sam Billings Career

Sam Billings has gotten enough potential to be a household name in franchise leagues across the globe. The 33-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has gotten great technique to withhold his white-ball game.

Sam Billings Domestic Career

A brilliant all-round sportsman, Sam Billings juggled football, rugby, tennis, and squash before finally settling on cricket. Whilst at university, Billings played for Loughborough MCCU before playing for his home side, Kent in the English County.

Suited for the limited overs game, Billings shone brightly in the ODI and T20 matches and was the top scorer for his team in the 40-over and T20 format in 2012.

In 2013, he replaced Geraint Jones in domestic T20 tournaments and the county championship for Kent. He was the leading run scorer in the Royal London One-Day Cup in 2014.

Billings scored 693 runs at an average of 30 in the 2015 Championship County which prompted his selection 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup provisional squad. However, a member of the provisional squad in the World Cup, Billings did not get to play for the national side. But when he annihilated Somerset bowlers in the process of scoring an unbeaten 135 from 58 balls, the English selectors could no longer ignore him.

In 2016, he played a prolific domestic season for Kent. He made the record of becoming the second Kent wicket-keeper to take seven catches in an innings. Billings also made his career-best 171 during this season in a match against Gloucestershire.

The year 2016 also saw him scoring his highest List-A score of 175 in a match against Pakistan at Canterbury.

Billings was bought by Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2016 and was retained for 2017 as well.

He played for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2016-17 and 2017-18 season.

The wicketkeeper-batter represented Sydney Thunder in the BBL 2020-21 and 2021-22 season.

Ahead of BBL 2022-23, he was drafted into the squad of Brisbane Heat.

In the league’s new multi-year contract for overseas players, Billings returned to Sydney Thunder and has committed to a long-term deal in the BBL in June 2024.

Sam Billings IPL Career

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sam Billings debuted for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2016 after he was bought by the franchise for his base price of INR 30 lakhs in the IPL 2016 auction. He scored a half-century in his very first match against the Kolkata Knight Riders. He was retained by Daredevils (now Capitals) for the 2017 season too.

At the IPL 2018 auction, he was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for his base price of INR 1 crore. Though he had a memorable debut in CSK’s homecoming after a two-year ban against KKR by scoring 56 off just 23 balls, he struggled to get going afterward as he ended the season with just 108 runs in 10 matches at an average of 13.50.

Billings did not get chances in the next seasons and was eventually snaffled up by his erstwhile team Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crores in the IPL 2021 auction. He did not get to play a single match in his homecoming and was released by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2022 mega auction. Billings was roped in by the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2022 mega auction for INR 2 crores and played 8 matches, scoring 169 runs at a strike rate of 122.46.

The 33-year-old wicketkeeper-batter opted out of IPL 2023 to focus on longer formats and was unsold at the IPL 2024 auction.

Sam Billings International Career

Though Sam Billings has debuted for England across formats, heavy competition for the wicketkeeper-batter role meant that Billings was often used as a back-up and was benched in important events.

Sam Billings ODI Career

Sam Billings made his ODI debut against New Zealand in 2015 at the age of 23. He scored only 3 runs on his debut and failed to impress in the five-match series.

He showed his ODI prowess in the series against Bangladesh in October 2016; where he scored his maiden half-century in the final match and carried his team to a 2-1 series win.

Billings was selected for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 but did not get to feature in a single game. He scored his maiden ODI century against Australia in the first ODI of Australia’s tour of England in September 2020. He displayed his resistance by scoring a career-best international score of 118 off 110 balls, as he dished out England from a precarious position of 57/4 and was batted through the tail, but went in vain as England lost by 10 runs.

Sam Billings Test Career

Sam Billings made his Test debut in the fifth Test of The Ashes 2021-22 in Australia. He scored 29 runs in the first innings, but could not convert his start. He has played a total of three Tests and scored 66 runs.

Sam Billings T20I Career

Sam Billings made his T20I debut in the series that followed post his ODI debut, scoring 21 in his first match. Although he was a regular choice in the team for the limited over formats, he played infrequently and never more than two matches in a row after his debut.

When Sam Billings was given a chance to prove his worth behind the stumps, he did not disappoint. On his wicket-keeping debut in a T20 match against Pakistan in 2015, Billings took two catches and completed one successful stumping.

He also scored a blistering 50 at a strike rate of more than 200 and earned himself his first ‘Player of the Match’ award.

He was part of the English squad that finished as runners-up in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 and part of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 squad.

Sam Billings Captaincy

In 2017, Sam Billings began playing back-to-back ODIs for the national team and was given the onus of vice-captaincy for his domestic side, Kent. He was promoted as the side’s captain and stepped down from captaincy in 2023.

He captained the Oval Invincibles to the title in The Hundred in 2023 and created history when he led the team to its second elusive title.

He became the first and only skipper to win two titles in the tournament and also the first and only skipper to defend the same.

Sam Billings Family

Sam Billings got engaged to Sarah Clantley in 2021 and the couple is blessed with a baby girl named Ivie Fay Billings in March 2024.