Who is Dillon Pennington? 5 interesting facts about England’s uncapped fast bowler called up for West Indies Tests
England has announced a 14-member squad for the first two of the upcoming three Test matches against the West Indies. The first game of the series will start at Lord's on July 10, and this will be the last one for England legend James Anderson. The right-arm pacer has represented England in 187 Test matches and has 700 wickets to his name.
With James scheduled to play his final match and Stuart Broad having already retired, England's seam bowling lineup will be revamped. To start things, England have picked right-arm pacer Dillon Pennington in their squad. Pennington has been having a successful run for Nottinghamshire in Division 1 of the County Championship.
As Dillon Pennington hopes to get his first Test cap in the upcoming series against the West Indies, in this article we will discuss five interesting facts about the Englishman.
#5 Took wickets of Alex Hales and Dawid Malan in The Hundred
Dillon Pennington took the wickets of Dawid Malan and Alex Hales in his second five balls in the 27th game of The Hundred's Men's competition between the Trent Rockers and Birmingham Phoenix in 2021. He only conceded 11 runs in his 15 balls and helped Birmingham Phoenix win the match by 16 runs while defending a score of 166 runs.
#4 The right-arm pacer struggled with dyslexia throughout his life
After having shown his skills in county cricket and T20 leagues, Dillon Pennington has finally earned his first call for the national team. However, not everyone is aware that he has struggled with dyslexia throughout his life.
In 2021, the young English pacer talked about his condition while speaking to PCA.
“I remember having an issue with spelling in primary school and the first half of secondary school. I had to spend a lot of extra time doing spelling and writing practice, and just going through little things like that," he said.
"There are loads of different types of dyslexia. In my case, it’s just all about muddling things up in your brain when you’re writing something. I’m always thinking two sentences ahead when writing that first sentence,” Pennington continued.
#3 He represented England in the Under-19 World Cup in 2018
Dillon Pennington was part of the England Under-19 World Cup squad in 2018. The English team didn’t have a successful tournament, as they lost in the quarterfinal match against Australia. However, Pennington did a decent job for his team; he picked up three wickets. Overall, the young pacer took six wickets in the five matches he played.
#2 Moved to Nottinghamshire from Worcestershire at the end of 2023
The right-arm pacer made his List-A and first-class debuts for Worcestershire in 2018. The 25-year-old had a successful 2021 season, in which he took 42 wickets. However, the pacer decided to move to Nottinghamshire at the end of 2023 and is having a successful run. In the ongoing Division 1 County Championship, Pennington has picked up 29 wickets at an average of 23.03.
#1 Dillon Pennington has an impressive first-class record
The newest addition to the English Test team boasts an impressive first-class record. Pennington has picked up 169 wickets in 52 matches at an average of 27.3. The pacer has nine four-wicket hauls and a couple of fifers to his name. Meanwhile, he has 31 wickets to his name in 18 List-A matches.
Dillon Pennington will now be hoping to get his first Test cap and make an impression with his bowling on the world stage.
England squad for first two matches: Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson (first test only), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Dillon Pennington, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes.