Kiwi County Cricket Tour #1 (The D-Low)
With all due respect to the Indian Premier League and our kiwi cricketers in the IPL (many of whom will also play County cricket), English County cricket captures my imagination much more than whack whack cricket in India. County cricket is where our Test hopefuls go to improve, which is what happens when you play as much cricket as they do in the English summer. Or County cricket is where you go when you've also got a British passport and/or want to stretch out your career a bit longer.
May I introduce to you the Kiwi County Tour, where I'll do my bestest to keep up with our kiwi lads battling away in England. You can look forward to the wrap of the first round of games later this week as we're already underway in the Motherland, until then, here's a brief run down of who's playing where.
Derbyshire
The Derbyshire county is south-east of Manchester, north-west Of Nottingham and it's where Neil Broom and Hamish Rutherford will call home for our winter. Broom is there as a British passport holder and he'll look to continue a fairly strong kiwi summer with a strong County campaign as he's still a very capable batsman. Rutherford is an overseas player and he will be keen to stack the runs up and push his case for a BLACKCAPS call up, especially in England where the seam/swing-friendly conditions will put his leaving and/or defending outside off-stump under the microscope.
Peep the Otago connection here as both Broom and Rutherford play for the Volts and Jimmy Neesham will also pop up for some whack whack cricket later on.
Essex
One of the counties that surround London, Essex sits north-east of London with a nice chunk of Essex on the coast. Our favourite son Jesse Ryder will once again lace up for Essex, he's made the most of his opportunities in England and loves the conditions that suit his right-arm-mediums while also batting in their middle order. Ryder is a valuable overseas pro as he has no international commitments while Auckland's Matt Quinn is there on a British passport. Quinn is an up-and-coming right-arm swinger who will be keen to take his bowling up a level under the weight of consistent cricket, in conditions that will help him swing it and if Quinn can impress, he'd be nicely poised for a strong home summer in which he can push his way into the BLACKCAPS' fringes.
Adam Milne will arrive for some whack whack at some stage.
Gloucestershire
The Gloucs are located on the England/Wales border, west of London and they have the luxury of both Hamish Marshall and Kieran Noema-Barnett holding British passports. Marshall has been a constant presence for Gloucestershire since 2006 and is a key batsman in their middle-order while Noema-Barnett is very similar to Ryder in that he's a powerful batsman but he offers plenty with the ball in English conditions. Neither Marshall or Noema-Barnett have any eye on the BLACKCAPS so there's no wider context, that doesn't mean it won't be as much following their work.
Kent
Sitting south-east of London, across the pond from France is Kent where Tom Latham will look to take his tidy game even further. Latham has shown that he has the defensive ability to handle Test cricket and like most lefties, Latham loves to cut/drive through the off-side when dished up any sort of width. I'm excited to follow Latham's work in England as he's kinda settled into his BLACKCAPS opening spot but still has plenty of work to do, which is why County cricket is so helpful as Latham will have many opportunities to perfect his craft against decent bowling attacks.
Lancashire
Up in England's north-west is Lancashire and Neil Wagner will bring his hostile left-arm pace to the Lancs as he looks to maintain his spot in the BLACKCAPS' Stable. Like Latham, Wagner will be an overseas player and like Latham, I'm eager to see what Wagner dishes up in England. Wagner is still a key figure in the BLACKCAPS bowling group, but with a gang of youngsters coming through, it's Wanger who is in the greatest danger. I reckon Wagner will light up English County cricket though as he's got all the tools and there won't be too many bowlers like Wagner running around on the County scene.
Middlesex
Middlesex is a small area of London, north of the Thames and James Franklin has made Middlesex his home courtesy of a British passport and has quickly become a key figure in their club, now the skipper of their 50-over team. Mitchell McClenaghan could possibly feature in County cricket after the IPL, ideally we'd see McClenaghan play a few County cricket games which would provide greater insight into McClenaghan's future as a Test cricketer.
Brendon McCullum and McClenaghan will play whack whack cricket for Middlesex, however all I really care about with Middlesex is McClenaghan's fortunes in County cricket so hopefully we see the big lefty run out in the whites a few times.
Sussex
Located south of London, on the southern coast, Sussex will be graced with the services of the classy Ross Taylor. Not much to report here as Taylor is a certain selection in any BLACKCAPS side and has spent time in England before, I guess it will be interesting to see if Taylor can play to the standard that we expect of him. Taylor should score runs for Sussex while he's there and if he doesn't then we might have a minor issue.
Warwickshire
Smack bang in the middle of England, south-east of Birmingham is Warwickshire, the second home of Jeetan Patel. For those who don't know, Patel has been a off-spinning beast in English County cricket taking 50+ wickets four seasons in a row and winning various accolades for his antics, it's safe to say that Patel has been the best kiwi performer in England for a while now. Following Patel will be very fun as he's taken County cricket by storm and it'd be pretty damn cool to see him do so once again, especially as he's their overseas player, giving Warwickshire immense value in that regard.
Patel will be joined by Luke Ronchi, his Wellington homie for some whack whack cricket as well.
Worcestershire
South-west of Birmingham is Worcestershire and this is where Matt Henry will be this winter as he looks to build on a fairly strong kiwi summer. Henry enjoyed great success in limited overs cricket and County cricket will provide him with a chance to continue to learn more about his craft, while also getting miles in his legs as he eyes up a consistent BLACKCAPS Test spot. Henry is like Latham in that he's shown us what he's capable of, but now we want to see him go to another level and that's what will make following Henry rather intriguing.
Mitchell Santner will show up for some whack whack stuff.
Yorkshire
Up in England's north sits Yorkshire, home of Prince Kane. Not much more needs to be said about the Prince, just expect him to score a few runs and further his reputation as one of the world's best batsmen/offie.