Grant Stewart: A Roaming, Bashing Cricketer … Aussie, Italy, Kent in England

Fast-bowling all-rounder Grant Stewart signed his first professional contract for Kent in 2017 after his 2nd XI form promised he could alleviate the county’s shortage of pace bowlers. Australian-born Stewart is not classed as an overseas player as he has an EU passport through his Italian mother. A qualified civil engineer, who grew up in New South Wales, he made his first-class debut as a bowling allrounder in the final game of the 2017 Championship season.

Better was to come in Kent’s promotion season, led by an extraordinary display in a floodlit rout of Middlesex at Canterbury. Only playing thanks to the absence of Matt Henry and Darren Stevens (rested ahead of the One-Day Cup final at Lord’s), he had taken four wickets in as many games in his first-class career when he took the new pink ball, but two hours later, he had his maiden five-wicket haul as he swung the Dukes ball under the lights. He then followed up his career-best 6 for 22 with a lusty 103, his maiden first-class hundred arriving in just 73 balls.

He was restricted to just five Championship matches and two T20s in 2019 after tearing his hamstring while racing back for the second of his only two runs of the Blast season during a win over Hampshire in August.

Part of Kent’s side which won the 2021 Blast title, Stewart earned a call-up for Italy’s T20 World Cup Europe Qualifying campaign. He made his T20I debut against Denmark in October 2021 and scored 51 off 31 balls against the same opposition four days later, although Italy failed to advance to the Global Qualifiers.

He signed a contract extension with Kent in July 2022, shortly after passing 1,000 first-class runs and went on to help his county lift the Royal London Cup trophy, claiming three wickets in the final against Lancashire.
ESPNcricinfo staff