County cricket may not boast the same calibre of foreign stars as it did in years gone by but the English domestic game still plays a valuable role for overseas players, says All Out Cricket contributor Chris Knight.
The County Championship is widely regarded as the strongest first-class structure in the world with England’s Test team reaping the rewards of a competitive two-division system and sitting on top of the world rankings. And it is not just English players who are enjoying the benefits of playing under the current four-day structure; many current foreign stars have also honed their skills in the county game before going on to excel on the international scene.
The standard of overseas players competing in domestic cricket is nowhere near the quality of 10-20 years ago and many fans will hark back to the days when players of the calibre of Sir Viv Richards, Joel Garner and Barry Richards were regulars on the county scene. Indeed, one of my own earliest memories of county cricket was watching Glenn McGrath score one of only two career first-class half-centuries for Worcestershire at New Road, while during the same 2000 season I was fortunate enough to see the Aussie legend do battle with Kent’s overseas star Rahul Dravid.
Those great names and great contests are not so evident nowadays but it is clear that county cricket still serves a purpose for Test players from other nations. Since the County Championship was divided into two divisions in 2000 there has been a clear improvement in the standard of England’s players, as well as up-and-coming Test players from other nations who are using the competitive atmosphere of county cricket to enhance their game.
In the latest issue of AOC, the world number one Test bowler Dale Steyn described the importance of his stint with Essex as a 21-year-old: “I’ll tell you what I learned at Essex: if you arrive underprepared, you’re going to get beaten around the park.” Steyn took 14 first-class wickets at 59.85 but learnt from his disappointment and came back stronger when he returned to play for Warwickshire two years later. However, for every Dale Steyn there is a Lonwabo Tsotsobe – the South African seamer who quit Essex after just five weeks following a Twitter outburst describing his time in England “as the worst two months of my life”.
Others have made much greater use of their time on these shores, with Jacques Rudolph joining Yorkshire as a Kolpak player and forcing his way back into the South Africa team through sheer force of runs. Doug Bollinger also took plenty from county cricket to become a regular in the Australian side in recent years – something Worcestershire’s fans would have found impossible to believe after an inglorious 2007 season at New Road.
It was also at Worcester that India’s Zaheer Khan rediscovered his appetite for the game, as well as the ability to take wickets (he took 78 during the 2006 season). Zaheer had struggled for confidence before his time in England but re-emerged as arguably the finest swing bowler in the world. “In many ways it was [the turning point], the stint at Worcestershire helped me understand the game, why I am playing and other things in terms of preparations for matches and bowling on different kinds of wickets,” said the Indian left-armer. “It was really important for me to play at the highest level, and to get back into the Indian side. I always knew I had the potential to perform but somehow I was not able to deliver. It was a great learning curve.”
The latest overseas recruit at New Road is Australia’s Phil Hughes and the 23-year-old will be viewing his time in England as the perfect opportunity to hone his technique and get back amongst the runs having lost his place in the Test side after a torrid series against New Zealand. Having racked up the runs for Middlesex in a short but sweet spell at Lord’s in 2009, the Aussie opener has found the going considerably tougher of late and will be hoping an English county summer can prove to be a turning point in the same way it has for Steyn, Zaheer and Rudolph.
Click here to read Chris Knight’s article on the legacy of the Twenty20 specialist.
Overseas Stars Continue To Benefit From Time In The Shires
County cricket may not boast the same calibre of foreign stars as it did in years gone by but the English domestic game still plays a valuable role for overseas players, says All Out Cricket contributor Chris Knight.
The County Championship is widely regarded as the strongest first-class structure in the world with England’s Test team reaping the rewards of a competitive two-division system and sitting on top of the world rankings. And it is not just English players who are enjoying the benefits of playing under the current four-day structure; many current foreign stars have also honed their skills in the county game before going on to excel on the international scene.
The standard of overseas players competing in domestic cricket is nowhere near the quality of 10-20 years ago and many fans will hark back to the days when players of the calibre of Sir Viv Richards, Joel Garner and Barry Richards were regulars on the county scene. Indeed, one of my own earliest memories of county cricket was watching Glenn McGrath score one of only two career first-class half-centuries for Worcestershire at New Road, while during the same 2000 season I was fortunate enough to see the Aussie legend do battle with Kent’s overseas star Rahul Dravid.
Those great names and great contests are not so evident nowadays but it is clear that county cricket still serves a purpose for Test players from other nations. Since the County Championship was divided into two divisions in 2000 there has been a clear improvement in the standard of England’s players, as well as up-and-coming Test players from other nations who are using the competitive atmosphere of county cricket to enhance their game.
In the latest issue of AOC, the world number one Test bowler Dale Steyn described the importance of his stint with Essex as a 21-year-old: “I’ll tell you what I learned at Essex: if you arrive underprepared, you’re going to get beaten around the park.” Steyn took 14 first-class wickets at 59.85 but learnt from his disappointment and came back stronger when he returned to play for Warwickshire two years later. However, for every Dale Steyn there is a Lonwabo Tsotsobe – the South African seamer who quit Essex after just five weeks following a Twitter outburst describing his time in England “as the worst two months of my life”.
Others have made much greater use of their time on these shores, with Jacques Rudolph joining Yorkshire as a Kolpak player and forcing his way back into the South Africa team through sheer force of runs. Doug Bollinger also took plenty from county cricket to become a regular in the Australian side in recent years – something Worcestershire’s fans would have found impossible to believe after an inglorious 2007 season at New Road.
It was also at Worcester that India’s Zaheer Khan rediscovered his appetite for the game, as well as the ability to take wickets (he took 78 during the 2006 season). Zaheer had struggled for confidence before his time in England but re-emerged as arguably the finest swing bowler in the world. “In many ways it was [the turning point], the stint at Worcestershire helped me understand the game, why I am playing and other things in terms of preparations for matches and bowling on different kinds of wickets,” said the Indian left-armer. “It was really important for me to play at the highest level, and to get back into the Indian side. I always knew I had the potential to perform but somehow I was not able to deliver. It was a great learning curve.”
The latest overseas recruit at New Road is Australia’s Phil Hughes and the 23-year-old will be viewing his time in England as the perfect opportunity to hone his technique and get back amongst the runs having lost his place in the Test side after a torrid series against New Zealand. Having racked up the runs for Middlesex in a short but sweet spell at Lord’s in 2009, the Aussie opener has found the going considerably tougher of late and will be hoping an English county summer can prove to be a turning point in the same way it has for Steyn, Zaheer and Rudolph.
Click here to read Chris Knight’s article on the legacy of the Twenty20 specialist.