A defensive wicket-keeper batsman, James Bracey is a talented youngster, born in 1997 and hailing from Bristol. Bracey, a product of Winterbourne CC and the Gloucestershire academy, made his First-Class debut for Loughborough University CC against the Australian Universities in May 2016. The left-handed batsman often walks at the number 3 position for Gloucestershire.
Bracey, in the following year, got his career-best score of 156 runs against Glamorgan and ended his season on a good note as he was averaging above 50. His versatility brought him a List A debut in 2019 when he played for Gloucestershire again, but this time in the 2019 Royal London One-Day Cup. James had a breakout year in 2019 where he kept wicket and finished as the highest run-scorer across both One-Day and T20 competitions. Due to a string of good performances, in June 2019, Bracey was chosen to represent England's top 30-man team and start preparing for the Test series against the West Indies. Afterwards, he was included in the team as a reserve for the first Test match of the series.
After not being able to feature in the starting XI, Bracey was released ahead of the County Championship in April 2021. He returned to the County and opened his account with a half-century in the first innings against Surrey. In the following match against Somerset, Bracey brimmed with confidence and self-assurance, as he smashed 118 and 83* to secure the victory for his team. He continued his domination with the bat, as he managed to add two more half-centuries under his belt in First-Class cricket.
The top order batsman was in sublime form in the ongoing 2021 FC season. In fact, his blazing hot form placed him as the leading run-scorer for Gloucestershire. After being an unused member of England’s bio-secure bubble for much of the last year, Bracey had been promoted into England’s squad for the two-Test series against New Zealand in June 2021, as a replacement for the injured Ben Foakes and he made his debut in the Lord's Test.
