For players to make their debut as a ‘sub’ is not now particularly uncommon but Dane Schadendorf may have created something of a record when he was substitute for a player who was himself ‘subbing’!
It happened in Nottinghamshire’s County Championship game against Derbyshire in July 2021. Regular first team wicket keeper Tom Moores was out injured and Ben Duckett was keeping in his place…only for Duckett to get called up mid-game into the England squad.
Zimbabwe-born Schadendorf thus found himself thrust into first-team action and became the twelfth player on the Notts scorecard for that innings – Duckett having been 69no when he got the England call.
The wicket-keeper batter acquitted himself pretty well, scoring 24 in his only innings and taking four catches when Derbyshire batted again.
His unusual debut was made even more notable in that he was the second player with the first name Dane in that team – Dane Paterson was by then well established as one of Notts’s front line bowlers.
Though born in Harare (31 July 2002) Schadendorf, a British passport-holder, opted to commit to the English domestic game after turning in impressive performances with Zimbabwe’s Under 19s, making ten appearances, including six at the ICC Under-19 World Cup.
Schadendorf spent 2020 playing for Caythorpe in the Nottinghamshire Premier League, whilst also featuring in friendly matches for Notts’ Second XI.
As a 20-year-old he finished the 2022 season as the leading run scorer in the Second XI Championship with 1,001, the most made by any player in a single campaign since 2006.
With the gloves, the Nottinghamshire Academy product claimed 34 dismissals (30 catches, four stumpings), topping the charts for the 2022 competition.
The former Zimbabwe U19 international also featured in all nine of Notts Outlaws’ List A fixtures, claiming ten dismissals behind the stumps.
His record in 2022 secured Dane Schadendorf a contract extension, signing a two-year deal to keep him at Trent Bridge until 2024 at least.
In 2024, he made his full First-Class debut for Notts, playing in the away fixture with Kent at Canterbury - a convincing win for Notts that all but clinched Division One survival. Scadendorf made 29 in his one batting knock and took six catches in the game, three in each Kent innings.
His contract with Nottinghamshire CCC was extended at the end of that season for a further year.
October 2024
Notts First Class Number: 664