Matt Maher: Danny Briggs is happy to fly under the radar at Bears
Amid the often wild unpredictability of T20 cricket, Danny Briggs taking wickets is one of the things on which you can depend.
For the past 14 years, nobody has done it more often in the domestic game than the Warwickshire spinner.
The all-time leading wicket taker in the T20 Blast by a considerable margin, even by Briggs’ standards 2024 has already been quite the year, the 27 wickets he claimed in the group stage of the tournament surpassing a record previously held by former Bears talisman Jeetan Patel.
Not that you will hear Briggs boasting about it.
“It is just one of those things,” he says. “Every year I try to be as consistent as possible.
“Some years you don’t pick up the wickets as much, some years you do. This season things have just flowed my way.”
Such an understated answer is typical of Briggs who, despite statistically being one of the best T20 bowlers in the game, still feels like something of an unsung hero.
It is telling, for instance, that as Warwickshire prepare for tonight’s quarter-final against Gloucestershire, the 33-year-old is some way from being the main media attraction.
That honour instead goes to Dan Mousley and Jacob Bethell, the club’s young all-rounders being tipped as future England stars after receiving their first international call-ups.
Once upon a time, it was Briggs in that position. The former Hampshire and Sussex star remains the youngest specialist spinner to play for England in an international T20. His debut, 12 years ago next week, was followed by a further six appearances but it is now more than a decade since his phone rang with an international call.
