Steven Davies

Full name : Steven Michael Davies
Born : June 17, 1986, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire
Major teams : England, England Lions, Marylebone Cricket Club, Surrey, Worcestershire, Worcestershire Cricket Board
Nickname : Davo
Playing role : Wicketkeeper
Batting style : Left-hand bat
Fielding position : Wicketkeeper
Education : King Charles 1 School

Davies is openly gay. He came out publicly on 27 February 2011 in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. He had come out to his family five years earlier, and he was also already out to his teammates. He became the first international cricketer to announce his homosexuality.

"I'm comfortable with who I am - and happy to say who I am in public," Davies said. "To speak out is a massive relief for me, but if I can just help one person to deal with their sexuality then that's all I care about."

Davies came out to his friends and family five years ago and confided in England coach Andy Flower ahead of the Ashes tour, with Flower and captain Andrew Strauss then letting the rest of the squad know.

"It was a fantastic thing to do, telling the lads," he said. "The difference is huge. I am so much happier. I told Andy Flower first. It was a tough thing for me to do, to tell him face-to-face, but I had to do it. He supported me 100%, [both] him and Andrew Strauss. It was the right thing to do as I felt I couldn't live like this anymore.

"I didn't enjoy going on tour too much because of the secret, and the Ashes was going to be a 3½-month tour. That's a long time and I would have really struggled to finish it. My sexuality is an essential part of who I am, so I wanted the boys to know."

Strauss said that he would tell half the squad, with Flower telling the others. Two days later, Davies met his team-mates at Lord's, where their reaction could not have been more supportive.

"I was so nervous," he said. "I got there really early -- I was the first one. I couldn't think of anything except what they were going to say and how they would react. In fact, everyone was great. They just said it wasn't an issue."

Matt Prior, who was his rival for the wicketkeeping position and is playing that role in the World Cup, came over to give Davies a hug. "He couldn't believe I had kept it to myself for this long," Davies said. "He said I should have told him. That was special."

On 19 September 2005 Davies was named in the 17-man ECB National Academy squad. In March 2006, he was called up to the England A squad to replace Chris Read, who had returned home after a burglary at his house. He was named in the England A squad touring Bangladesh in 2007.

He made his Twenty20 International debut for England, opening the batting along with Ravi Bopara against the West Indies in Port of Spain on March 15, 2009, top-scoring with 27 from 21 balls as England reached 55 for 1, before collapsing to 121 all out.

In October 2009, Davies was called up to England's Test squad for the first time. Geoff Miller, England's chairman of selectors, said "Steven is a player of great potential who has been a consistent performer for his county and he will act as understudy to Matt Prior in South Africa". Although part of the Test squad, Davies was not selected for the ODI squad on the tour.

Davies made his ODI debut in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy semi-final against Australia on 2 October, after regular wicket-keeper Matt Prior fell ill, but only scored 5 runs in a 9-wicket defeat. Davies had to wait nearly a year for his next appearance. After both Prior and Craig Kieswetter were dropped, Davies was given the gloves for the Pakistan ODI series during September 2010. England won the ODI series 3-2, with Davies earning himself a man-of-the-match award in the first game after top-scoring with 87.

After the series, Davies was selected along with Prior as a keeper in England's squad for the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia, although he was not required to play as England retained the Ashes with a 3-1 victory. In the one-day games that followed, he played in two Twenty20s before scoring 42 in the first ODI. However, when the squad for the 2011 World Cup was announced before the second ODI, Davies was left out in favour of Prior, who then joined up with the ODI side despite not originally being selected in the squad.