Timothy Thomas Bresnan (born 28 February 1985) is an English former first-class cricketer, who last played for Warwickshire. He played as a fast-medium bowler who had ability with the bat. He was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ICC World Twenty20.
Bresnan won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2002 and 2003. In June 2006 he was called up to the England One-Day International side, and in May 2009, he joined the Test side. He was selected for the 2010–11 Ashes series and played in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG; he took six wickets including the final one which saw England retain the Ashes. He announced his retirement from cricket in January 2022.
Born to Ray and Julie Bresnan, Bresnan attended Castleford High School Technology and Sports College, and subsequently attended NEW College, Pontefract. He started his career and played his junior cricket at Townville Cricket Club, before moving to Castleford Cricket Club as he began to play within the Yorkshire setup.
Bresnan made his maiden first-class century in April 2007 during a County Championship match against Surrey at The Oval, beating his previous highest score of 94. During the innings, he also passed the landmark of 1,000 runs in first-class cricket. Bresnan scored 116 and in doing so, alongside Jason Gillespie, set a record ninth-wicket partnership for Yorkshire: the pair put on 246 before Bresnan was stumped off the bowling of Nayan Doshi. It was the fourth-highest ninth-wicket partnership in all first-class cricket In July Bresnan scored his second first-class ton, this time for England Lions against a touring Indian team which included Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, and Sreesanth. His innings of 126 not out was a new personal best.
Bresnan finished the 2007 English season with 679 runs from 16 first-class matches at an average of 48.50 with three centuries. He also took 35 wickets at an average of 34.02.
In 2017 during the T20 Blast roses match against Lancashire, Bresnan took 6 for 19, the best T20 bowling figures by a Yorkshire player and the best T20 figures at Headingley.
In June 2020, Bresnan agreed to leave Yorkshire County Cricket Club, in a bid to play first-team cricket elsewhere to prolong his career. He joined Warwickshire on loan for the 2020 season, and signed a two-year permanent deal with the club for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. In January 2022, Bresnan retired from the sport.
Bresnan represented England at youth level, with 7 Youth Tests and 23 Youth ODIs for England U-19s. He earned his first international call-up in June 2006 when he was named in the England ODI squad to play Ireland and Sri Lanka. Bresnan made his England debut in the Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka at the Rose Bowl on 15 June 2006. He scored 6 not out and conceded 20 runs from his two overs. Two days later he appeared in his first One Day International against the same opposition at Lord's, taking 1–44 from nine overs as England fell to a 20-run defeat.
On 29 April 2009, nearly three years since last being involved in international cricket, Bresnan was named in the England squad for the upcoming Test series against West Indies, replacing the injured Andrew Flintoff. Seven days later Bresnan made his Test debut for England at Lord's. He scored nine with the bat, and failed to take a wicket – being allocated only a few overs given the success of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and fellow débutant Graham Onions. In the second match, however, Bresnan picked up three wickets, including his maiden wicket of Brendan Nash and then took Denesh Ramdin two deliveries later.
Bresnan played in the limited overs matches in England's tour of South Africa. He played in the second and third ODIs. In the second match, he took figures of 2–46 in ten overs and was not needed to bat. In the next game he bowled 8 overs for just 15 runs, picking up a wicket in the process, as England won by seven wickets. In the first T20 match he was expensive, bowling 2 overs for 25 runs. He was expensive again in the second bowling his four overs for 48 runs and being dismissed for a duck when batting as England lost by 84 runs.
Bresnan was called up to the squad for the series in Bangladesh. In the first match he took four wickets, including 3–63. He also made 91 runs before being stumped. As England won comfortably, he was not required to bat again. In the second match he took another three wickets as he continues to impress with the ball. He also performed well in the limited overs series, picking up figures of 3–51 and 4–28 in the second and third matches. After the series in Bangladesh, Bangladesh toured England for two Test matches. He scored 25 runs and took 3 wickets as England won the match at Lords, but Bresnan was ruled out of the second match through injury.
England then took part in the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 and Bresnan played in all their matches, culminating with victory over Australia in the final; this was the first time England had won an ICC tournament. In the first game of the tournament, Bresnan played a limited role, not being required to bat and only bowling 1 over for 7 runs. In the second match of huge tournament he bowled two overs against Ireland, conceding only 5 runs. He was expensive against Pakistan, bowling four overs for 36 runs, but came back well against South Africa, conceding just 14 runs in the three overs he bowled.
He guided England to victory against New Zealand with an unbeaten 23 to ensure England qualified for the semi-finals. In the semi-finals against Sri Lanka he was expensive, collecting figures of 1–41. In the final against Australia, he bowled all four of his overs, conceding 35 runs and not managing to pick up a wicket. Bresnan only took 3 wickets at 52.67, the least of England's front-line bowlers.
In the ODI series against Australia, Bresnan struggled with the ball, taking just 1 wicket in 5 games. In the first two games he took 0–49 and in the second 0–44. His only wicket came in the fourth match where he took figures of 1–52. However, he scored vital runs in England's three victories – 26 in the first game, 12 not out in the second and 14 not out in the third game which England won by just 1 wicket. His top score of the series came when he hit 34 in the fifth ODI.
He was included in the Ashes squad to tour Australia in 2010–2011, making his first appearance in the series in the fourth Test at the MCG in Melbourne. He bowled economically, taking 2/25 off 13 overs in the first innings as Australia were bowled out for just 98. In the second innings, he took the top-order wickets of Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Michael Hussey before taking the final wicket of Ben Hilfenhaus. That final wicket saw England win by an innings and 157 runs, take a 2–1 lead in the series and therefore retain the Ashes. He continued his capable performance in the final Test in Sydney, ably supporting James Anderson and Chris Tremlett as England clinched a 3–1 series win in dominating fashion.
Spinner Graeme Swann was injured during the ODI series that followed the Ashes, and Anderson was rested for the first three matches. As a result, Bresnan was left as the bowler with most international experience in England's attack, with 38 wickets in ODIs. England lost the series 6–1 with Bresnan playing two matches and contributing four wickets and 47 runs.
An injury to his calf forced Bresnan out of the series with Australia, however he returned to the squad for the World Cup, held in February to April 2011. He took 1–49 as England got of to a winning start against the Netherlands. Bresnan took career best figures of 5/48 in England's tied match against India. His spell was nominated to be one of the best ODI bowling performance of the year 2011 by ESPNCricinfo. In disappointing defeat against Ireland, Bresnan bowled his 10 overs for 64 runs, picking up just 1 wicket. He bowled 8 overs for just 27 runs as England beat South Africa by six runs. He again bowled economically against Bangladesh, taking figures of 1–35 in his ten overs. He was expensive against the West Indies, bowling his seven overs for 46 runs and failing to pick up a wicket. England left the competition at the quarter-final stage, with Bresnan not picking up a wicket and conceding 40 runs in his eight overs.