Liam Plunkett: The former England cricketer made his professional baseball debut with a minor league team

Former England fast bowler Liam Plunkett traded the cricket field for the baseball diamond when he made his professional debut for a minor league team in the United States.

Plunkett pitched for the Oakland Bowlers against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds in the Pioneer Baseball League on Friday night on the west coast of the USA.

The 41-year-old Ballers threw five pitches to the Freebirds’ Josh Duarte in front of 1,878 fans at Raimondi Park, though he was unable to prevent the home side from losing 18-11.

Plunkett, who was part of the England team that won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019, moved to the United States five years ago and played in the country’s T20 franchise tournament Major League Cricket (MLC).

“I’ve done official first pitches before for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Minnesota Twins as part of being an MLC ambassador, but this one is obviously a bit more serious,” Plunkett told BBC Sport.

“I think I’m the first English cricketer to play a professional game of baseball. It’s obviously a few steps below Major League Baseball but it’s great to say I played two games of bat-and-ball as a professional.”

Left-handed pacer Plunkett signed an agreement to join the Ballers under Pioneer Baseball League’s Marketing Player Exception, which allows clubs to bypass their standard roster eligibility limits.

This enables teams to sign a non-prospect player, often a notable veteran or former Major League Baseball player, to their 25-man active roster, although Plunkett’s presence is unlikely to prompt a permanent career change.

He is part of the San Francisco Unicorns squad for the MLC but is yet to appear for the franchise in this year’s tournament.

Plunkett tried to bat during practice with the bowlers before getting ready to play as pitching was his strong suit.

“The swing path when you bat is a lot different than in cricket, especially when someone is pitching at 90mph,” added Plunkett.

“I would have loved to hit a monster home run because it would have gone viral!”

Plunkett played 13 Tests, 89 ODIs and 22 T20Is for England, taking 201 wickets in all formats.