Josh Davey's seam-bowling talent was recognised when Middlesex gave him his county debut at the age of 19. But, although he was involved with the county for four years, the seam-bowling allrounder failed to push on, and he was released at the end of 2013 and moved west to Somerset.

Born in Aberdeen, Davey made his ODI debut in 2010, the same year as his first county appearance, and immediately made a sterling impression by taking 5 for 9 against Afghanistan. At the time, they were Scotland's best ever bowling figures in ODI cricket. In 2012 he took 3 for 23 in Scotland's win over Bangladesh in a T20 international, which was their first ever victory over an ICC Full Member.

While he was highly regarded by many in Scottish cricket, the sense that Davey was not fulfilling his talent was reinforced when, a few months after losing his Middlesex contract, he was not selected in the Scotland squad for the World Cup Qualifiers in January 2014.

However, he soon earned a summer contract with Somerset, and took 3 for 28 from his four overs when he was recalled for the rain-reduced ODI against England in May. Consistent bowling for Scotland in the summer of 2014 and in their World Cup acclimatisation tour was adorned by a return of 6 for 28 against Afghanistan, which represented the best ODI bowling display by a non-Test player. It ensured Davey's place in the final 15 for the World Cup.

He made his first-team debut in a solitary outing against the New Zealand tourists in 2015 and added a single Championship appearance the following year as well as a smattering of T20 appearances in which he showed good economy.

Davey was initially a fringe seamer at Somerset, but he won more opportunities in 2018 when 34 Championship wickets gave him his best season's return. He started to thrive in their white-ball sides, too, taking 14 wickets - including both Hampshire openers in the final - as they won the Royal London Cup in 2019, and became an integral member of their squad.

He represented Scotland at the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups: in the first, he took eight wickets in three matches in Oman to clinch a place in the Super 12s in the UAE, though an injury meant he only played twice at that stage of the tournament.

ESPNcricinfo staff