This is the first piece in this blog examining how various players that we can expect to see in the County Championship next season are faring in their winter seasons wherever that may be. It may be overseas players that will be heading to England in 2011, or English players that are honing their skills abroad.
So first up let's have a look at what's happening in Australia. Well, we know there are very few overseas players invited to play Sheffield Shield cricket over there, although we have Sajid Mahmood and Michael Lumb heading over there to take part in the T20 competition - The KFC Twenty20 Big Bash. So let's have a look at four players, all from the Victoria Bushrangers, that will be in England next season.
Let's begin by having a look at their star performer in the Sheffield Shield, Leicestershire's all-rounder Andrew McDonald, who has begun the season in scintillating fashion.
McDonald smashed 163 at the WACA against Western Australia off only 116 balls, including 21 fours and seven sixes, this inevitably helped Victoria to a deserving eight wicket victory. He backed this up with two centuries against a very useful looking New South Wales side that included the metronomic Stuart Clark, Aussie spin reject Nathan Hauritz, the pacy Mark Cameron, their next leg spin hope Steven Smith and Australia's all-rounder Shane Watson.
McDonald's relaible medium pace has offered his state the necessary control, though the wickets have not come fluently, he still represents a consistent option. He has taken seven wickets at 36.14, but the statistic that comes as no surprise is his excellent economy rate of 2.42.
Unfortunately for McDonald he did break his hand against Western Australia, the second time they played WA this season, and missed the home game against Queensland because of it.
Middlesex's new overseas signing, run scoring machine Chris Rogers, joined the county from Derbyshire during the close season and has also had his appearances restricted by injury. He has had surgery on his knee and has managed just a single game in the Sheffield Shield against Tasmania where he made 26 and 18. He's expected to be out till around February time. Time to get fully rehabilitated and find his form ahead of his first season at Lords.
Our next man is a bowler that was probably unfairly never talked about as a pace option for England during the Ashes tour playing in conditions he is very familiar with, Darren Pattinson. I'm not advocating a return to the Test set-up for Pattinson, but if there were concerns about our penetrative ability on these flat pitches, then Pattinson has more experience then any of our options in how to succeed.
This was exemplified by an eight wicket haul in the season opener against WA. He has added to that tally since and now has 15 victims to his name at 20.86, and is still not considered a certainty in the Victorian line-up, despite being their leading wicket-taker this season.
The last player is a batsman that all the Nottinghamshire fans hope will return as their overseas player in 2011, David Hussey. Can generally be relied upon in all forms of the game, Hussey is yet to hit top form yet this season for Victoria.
He did show his capabilities in combining with McDonald for a 105 run fifth wicket partnership against NSW, Hussey went on to make 122. He still averages over 40 for this season and is Victoria's leading run scorer currently, but you expect he will deliver more in the remainder of the season.
Victoria's form has been below average in the Sheffield Shield, they sit second bottom in the table with only WA below them. In the Ryobi Cup their form is the opposite, and they are second just five points behind top placed Tasmania, yet the players highlighted here are yet to register any match defining performances in this form of the game, althoguh Rogers and Pattinson have only played the once.
Former Durham, Leciestershire and Lancashire batsman Brad Hodge has been the stand out player and is the main reason the Bushrangers are doing so well.
The Ryobi Cup is being used for experimental purposes. It is a 45 over game, but the teams innings are split into two parts, first they bat for 20 overs, then the opposition bats for 20 overs, and they then finish off the remaining 25 overs each. By all accounts there has been mixed reviews for this innovative move.
Next time I'll be having a look at how Ravi Bopara and Owais Shah, amongst others, are going in South Africa.
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