Born on 21 August 1996 in Grantham, Lincolnshire, Zachariah ‘Zak’ Chappell is a right-arm fast-medium bowler and right-hand batsman. He attended Stamford School, where he was taught by former Kent and England seamer Dean Headley, and was later selected for the England Pace Bowling programme in the 2017/2018 close season.
Standing at 6’6”, Chappell made his First-Class debut for Leicestershire against Derbyshire in September 2015, aged just 19. He scored an impressive 96 runs from 122 balls, which at the time was the highest-ever innings by a Leicestershire number 10.
Following selection for the ECB North side in spring 2018 Chappell enjoyed considerable success in that year’s Specsavers County Championship, when he took 16 wickets at an average of 15.93 whilst averaging 48.33 with the bat.
Chappell joined Nottinghamshire in October 2018, following the same career route as Stuart Broad – and with similar aspirations. Soon after moving to Trent Bridge the young all-rounder was called up for the England Lions’ tour of India in early 2019, where he was the leading English wicket-taker in the two four-day matches.
He made his Nottinghamshire First-Class debut against Essex on 14 May 2019 and experienced a challenging first season at Trent Bridge, making one T20, two List A and three First-Class appearances. His only wicket of the year came in the single T20 match he played for Gloucestershire during a brief loan spell in August.
In August 2022, it was announced that Zak would be leaving Trent Bridge at the end of his contract and joining near neighbours Derbyshire for the 2023 season and beyond.
August 2022
Nottinghamshire First-Class Number: 654