Rory Joseph Burns is an English cricketer who plays for Surrey. He made his international debut for the England cricket team in November 2018. He is a left-handed batsman who opens in first-class cricket and occasionally fields as a wicket-keeper. In 2018, he was appointed captain of Surrey in both first-class and List A formats.
Having played Second XI cricket for both Surrey and Hampshire, Burns made his first-class debut for Surrey against Cambridge MCCU in May 2011. He made scores of 23 and 16, and keeping wicket ahead of regular keepers Steven Davies and Gary Wilson he took two catches. This was his only first team appearance for Surrey in the 2011 season. In the 2012 season, he scored a century against Leeds Bradford MCCU and filled in as wicket-keeper in one game before being called upon to open the batting in early July against Lancashire. He remained on the team for the rest of the season finishing with 741 runs at an average of 49.4. He continued to open the batting in 2013 and 2014, playing all Surrey's first-class games in both seasons. He scored 1000 runs in a season for the first time in 2014. In June 2015, whilst playing for Surrey in a NatWest t20 Blast game against Sussex Sharks at Arundel Castle, Burns collided with teammate Moisés Henriques while attempting to take a catch. Both players were knocked unconscious from the collision with Burns requiring stitches to facial injuries and Henriques suffering a broken jaw. Ambulances and medical staff treated the players on-field before taking them both to hospital. The game was abandoned due to the injuries. Burns returned to the team in late-June and finished the season with 1019 First-Class runs at an average of 48.52. He also played in 7 of Surrey's 10 games in the Royal London Cup, including all the knock-out games, scoring 364 runs. His good form in the previous season saw him selected to represent the Marylebone Cricket Club against the champions Yorkshire in the traditional curtain-raiser to the 2016 English cricket season. In July 2017, he made his highest score of 219 not-out versus Hampshire – this game was his first game as captain of Surrey. In the 2018 season, Burns led Surrey to their first County Championship title since 2002. In the process, he scored over 1000 runs for the fifth consecutive season, finishing the season overall as Division One's top run-scorer, with 1359 runs at an average of 64.71.
International career
In September 2018, he was named in England's Test squad for the series in Sri Lanka, and made his Test debut for England against Sri Lanka on 6 November 2018. He scored his first Test century on 2 August 2019 in the Ashes, during the first innings of the first Test at Edgbaston against Australia. On 29 May 2020, Burns was named in a 55-man group of players to begin training ahead of international fixtures starting in England following the COVID-19 pandemic. On 17 June 2020, Burns was included in England's 30-man squad to start training behind closed doors for the Test series against the West Indies. On 4 July 2020, Burns was named in England's thirteen-man squad for the first Test match of the series.
