Former England World Cup-winner Liam Plunkett makes his professional baseball debut

Former England fast bowler Liam Plunkett, who formed part of the 2019 World Cup-winning squad, recently made his professional debut in baseball, turning out for the Oakland Ballers in the Pioneer Baseball League on Friday, June 26, at the Ballers' Raimondi Park in the United States of America. 

Playing in front of more than 1,500 fans, the 41-year-old threw five pitches against the Yuba-Sutter Freebirds. He even struck out Josh Duarte. The former fast bowler, however, was not able to help his side secure the win, losing out to the Freebirds 18-11. 

Plunkett revealed that he is the first England cricketer to represent a professional baseball side. The former seamer takes pride in playing two bat-and-ball sports professionally in his lifetime. 

"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. 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," Liam Plunkett told BBC Sport. 

It is worth mentioning that Plunkett was able to join the Oakland Ballers squad thanks to the league's marketing player exception rule, which allows teams to bypass the standard selection criteria. The rule often sees a Major League Baseball (MLB) veteran represent the teams in the league. The Ballers, however, opted to go left field and use the rule to sign Plunkett, a cricket player. 

The right-arm pacer is currently part of the San Francisco Unicorns squad in Major League Cricket (MLC) but has yet to play a match this season. 

Plunkett will always be remembered for playing a crucial role in England's maiden World Cup title in 2019. The Yorkshire and Durham bowler was the Three Lions' unsung hero in the dramatic final against New Zealand at Lord's. Behind the heroics of Ben Stokes, Plunkett was the key bowler in the first innings, ending his 10 overs with figures of 3 for 42, including the crucial wicket of the Kiwi captain and Player of the Tournament Kane Williamson.