BJ Watling or Bradley-John Watling born on 9th July 1985 in Durban, South Africa, is also known as BJ Watling. He is an international cricketer of New Zealand, having represented Northern Districts since December 2004. He made his debut on 11th December 2009 against Pakistan and played his first One-day international on 13th August 2010 against Sri Lanka. BJ Watling mostly bats at lower-middle order, and during T20 he opened for Northern Districts as a pure batsman. Whereas a few years back in 2012, during test matches, Watling assumed the role of wicket-keeper.
Bowling and Feilding Averages of BJ Watling
| Mat | Inns | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | Ct | St | |
| Tests | 59 | 95 | 3057 | 142* | 37.74 | 7097 | 43.07 | 6 | 16 | 200 | 7 |
| ODIs | 28 | 25 | 573 | 96* | 24.91 | 838 | 68.37 | 0 | 5 | 20 | 0 |
| T20Is | 5 | 4 | 38 | 22 | 9.5 | 58 | 65.51 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| First-class | 148 | 252 | 8567 | 176 | 38.59 | 19272 | 44.45 | 15 | 51 | 352 | 9 |
| List A | 122 | 114 | 3858 | 145* | 37.82 | 5245 | 73.55 | 8 | 25 | 97 | 3 |
| T20s | 67 | 60 | 1255 | 75 | 24.6 | 1152 | 108.94 | 0 | 6 | 36 | 3 |
Early Life
BJ Watling, who was born in South Africa, moved to New Zealand along with his family when he was 10 years old. Watling while pursuing his studies at Hamilton’s Boy’s High School was coached by Chris Kuggeleijn- a former test cricketer. While still at school, he won Gillette cup twice and played in the Under-18 Cricket World Cup in the year 2004. His greatest achievement while still at school was his contribution to a 200+ run partnership with Daniel Boughtwood.
National Career
BJ Watling made his first-class debut on 6th December 2004 for Northern Districts against Auckland in State Championship. In the first inning, he scored 37 playings as a wicket-keeper. But in the second innings, he was promoted to open the batting along with Nick Horsley. In the same year, later in December Watling made his List-A debut in State Shield against Wellington, where he opened the batting with Lorne Howell.
International Career
Watling’s stunning and consistent work earned him a place in New Zealand’s national squad to play One-day international and T20 International series in October and November 2009 against Pakistan. He was not included in the final XI for the One-day series in which New Zealand won 2-1 but he made his international debut as a wicket-keeper in the first T20 international. He got a chance to prove his credibility in test matches when he was chosen ahead of Peter Fulton in the 3rd test against Pakistan.
On 13th August 2010, he made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka, where he scored 55 runs from 68 deliveries. In 2015 he became stand-in Captain for Black Caps for the tour against England. In May 2017, Watling was among 20 players to be awarded a new contract by New Zealand cricket for 2018-19 seasons.
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