Born in Cambridge, Thomas Westley is the Club Captain of Essex County Cricket Club and is currently the longest serving player. He has become a cornerstone of the side, having spent more than two decades at the Club.
Westley joined the Essex Academy in 2003 before making his first-team debut in 2007. Since then, he has amassed over 500 appearances across all formats, scored 41 centuries, and accumulated more than 21,000 runs - surpassing Ravi Bopara to become Essex’s leading run-scorer of the modern era.
A true multi-format batter, Westley has excelled in the County Championship, List A, and T20 competitions. In 2014, he became only the fifth Essex player to record centuries in all three formats within a single season - a year in which he also claimed the Player of the Year, Batter of the Year, and Players’ Player of the Year awards. The following year, he achieved another milestone, becoming the first Essex player to score two centuries in each of the three formats.
His prolific form in 2017 earned him a call-up to the England Men’s Test squad, where he made his debut against South Africa at The Oval and scored a maiden Test half-century in his first innings. He went on to feature in five Tests that summer.
In T20 cricket, Westley has scored 2,536 runs across 95 innings, averaging over 30, with a highest score of 109 not out. In 2019, he played a pivotal role as Essex achieved a remarkable domestic double, lifting both the Blast and the County Championship trophies.
Appointed Club Captain in January 2020, Westley led Essex to victory in the Bob Willis Trophy during his first year in charge. At the conclusion of the 2021 season, Tom was named the Essex Cricket Batter of the Year at the End of Season Awards Gala. The 2023 season would see the right-handed batter pick this award up again as he scored a total of 1295 runs at an average of 37 across 26 matches in various formats.
In 2025, he became the all-time leading run-scorer in One-Day Cup history, bringing his List A career total to 4,500 runs at an average of 41.50. As of the end of the 2025 season, Westley has played 232 first-class matches for Essex, scoring just shy of 13,000 runs at an average of 36.28, with a career-best 254 against Worcestershire in September 2016.
He concluded the 2025 season by signing a new contract that included a Testimonial Year, and at the Essex Cricket Awards was named the Club’s Batter of the Year.
