Benny Howell is a right-arm medium pace bowler and right-handed batter.
He was born in Bordeaux, France but represented England at Under 19s level in 2007.
Howell started his career with Hampshire, making 27 appearances across all formats, before leaving to join Gloucestershire in 2012.
Since leaving Utilita Bowl, Howell has become one of the finest all-rounders in the country, especially in the limited-over formats.
He played a key part in Gloucestershire’s Royal London One-Day Cup triumph in 2015, taking 15 wickets in the competition.
In the truncated 2020 season, Howell helped his side to their first Vitality Blast Finals Day since 2007 – with 96 runs and seven wickets from his five games, as well as a Player of the Match performance against Northamptonshire Steelbacks in the quarter-final (3-16).
Howell has starred for Gloucestershire in the Vitality Blast in recent years, taking 15 wickets in 2021, while taking 11 wickets and 156 runs, at a strike rate of 179, in the 2022 T20 competition.
He has also played in several franchise leagues around the world including the IPL, the PSL and The Hundred where he plays for Birmingham Phoenix.
In July 2022, he was called up to the England Lions squad for a 50 over match against South Africa where he took three wickets for 58 runs, before scoring 40 runs in just 33 balls with the bat.
He signed a three-year white-ball contract with Hampshire following the conclusion of the 2022 season.
On his return to the club, Howell played in eight Vitality Blast matches – having missed the start of the competition through injury. He scored 82 runs, at an explosive strike rate of 178.26, and took six wickets on the Hawks’ journey to Finals Day.
Howell would feature in 12 of the Hawks’ 14 Vitality Blast matches in 2024. Against former side Gloucestershire, 2-28 from four overs would restrict them to 176-9, but after coming in at 75-4 from 11.4 overs, Howell smashed 62* from 27 to help chase down the remaining 102 runs in just 50 balls and collect the Player of the Match award.
Despite the Hawks failing to escape the group stages, Howell scored 169 runs and took six wickets across the competition.
Howell would reach the Eliminator of the Hundred with the Birmingham Phoenix, missing out on the final in a super-over defeat to the Southern Brave. Howell played nine times scoring 60 runs and taking five wickets.
Returning to the Hawks for the Global Super League in the winter of 2024, Howell would play thrice scoring 38 runs and taking four wickets.
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