Ex-England bowler Plunkett makes pro baseball debut

Ex-England bowler Plunkett makes pro baseball debutImage source, Oakland BallersImage caption, Liam Plunkett played county cricket for Durham, Yorkshire and SurreyByTimothy AbrahamBBC Sport journalistPublished23 minutes agoFormer England fast bowler Liam Plunkett traded the cricket field for the baseball diamond as he made his professional debut for a minor league team in the United States.Plunkett turned out for the Oakland Ballers against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds in the Pioneer Baseball League on Friday night in the USA's west coast.The 41-year-old threw five pitches and struck out the Freebirds' Josh Duarte in front of 1,878 fans at the Ballers' Raimondi Park, although he was unable to prevent the home side sliding to an 18-11 defeat.Plunkett, who was part of the England team that won the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019, emigrated to the United States five years ago and plays in Major League Cricket (MLC), the country's T20 franchise tournament."I've previously done the ceremonial first pitch for the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins as part of being an MLC ambassador, but this is obviously a little bit more serious," Plunkett told BBC Sport."I think I'm the first English cricketer to ever play a professional game of baseball. It's obviously a few rungs below Major League Baseball but it's still pretty cool to say I have played as a professional in two bat-and-ball sports."Left-arm seamer Plunkett signed a contract to join the Ballers under the Pioneer Baseball League's marketing player exception, which allows clubs to bypass their standard roster eligibility limits.It enables teams to sign one non-prospect player who is often a notable veteran or former Major League Baseball player to their 25-man active roster, though Plunkett's appearance is unlikely to prompt a permanent career change.He is part of the San Francisco Unicorns squad for MLC but has yet to make an appearance fo...