County Cricket News Round-Up

County Cricket News Round-Up

Gareth Andrew will miss at least the first two months of the new season.

©Action Images / Paul Harding

Sussex have announced a slight restructuring of their coaching structure ahead of the 2012 season. Former opener Carl Hopkinson will move from a predominantly first team role into a primarily second team one, while former off-spinner Mark Davis will make the switch in the opposite direction. Both coaches will continue to work in all areas of coaching at the club, however; something Professional Cricket Manager Mark Robinson stressed the importance of when commenting on the restructuring.

“We felt that it was important to have a change for the new season as both coaches will benefit from the new responsibilities,” said Robinson.

“One thing we are keen to continue is that all of the professional coaches spend enough time in each other’s areas so we all have a good understanding of how all aspects of the coaching pathway are developing. This includes our Cricket Performance Manager Keith Greenfield, who will continue to spend time with both myself and Carl in the summer.”

Cricket Scotland have announced that Canterbury batsman George Worker will be their overseas player for the entirety of the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition in 2012. The 22 year-old filled in for the Saltires last season when Tasmanian Luke Butterworth was out injured.

When not representing Scotland, Worker – who has scored 474 runs at an average of 33.86 during the winter for Canterbury - will be the club professional at Watsonian CC; a fact which clearly delighted the club’s president Ross Brooks.

He said, “It is fantastic news to be able announce that George is joining Watsonians for the summer along with representing the Saltires and I'm sure he'll have a successful summer playing club and county cricket.”

Scotland head coach Pete Steindl added, “I’m looking forward to seeing George back in a Saltires shirt for our 2012 Clydesdale Bank 40 campaign. His attacking style of batting fits well at the top of the order, while his left-arm spin will also prove a handy asset. He will be warmly welcomed back into the dressing room after his positive impact last season”.

Derbyshire have announced that Scotland fast-bowler Alasdair Evans is joining the county for a three-month pre-season trial period. The 22 year-old was the club’s leading wicket-taker in the Second XI Championship last season with 31 victims at 20.67 apiece, and said of his opportunity, “It’s great for me and I’m really looking forward to it. I will be dropped in at the deep end and it’s going to be hard work, but chances like this don’t often come along.

“I enjoyed every minute of it last season from April right through to the end of the season. There is a very good bunch of guys at the club who took me in and made it a very enjoyable experience. Coming down from an associate nation, last season was an eye-opener in terms of the volume of good standard cricket.”

Evans has already represented Loughborough University and Scotland in a total of four first-class matches, as well as representing the Saltires twice in One-Day Internationals.

The county have also announced that they will play a one-day fixture against Yorkshire on 31^st March, and a two-day one against Warwickshire on 1^st April, following their pre-season trip to Barbados, as they gear up for the 2012 season.

Durham look like having a full battery of seam bowlers for the start of the new season. Long-term injury worry Mark Davies is ready to begin bowling again following his latest injury setback, while Steve Harmison, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes and Graham Onions are all at various stages along their roads to recovery.

Head coach Geoff Cook added that Plunkett had been undergoing some remedial work on his action in order to rediscover his best form. He said, “Liam knew the groundwork needed to be done in getting back to the very basics in his action. He's been working in the indoor school and we want to keep that going for the next six weeks before deciding where we go from there. It's important that he stays under our umbrella rather than going abroad.” 

Worcestershire all-rounder and 2011 PCA MVP runner-up Gareth Andrew looks set to be out until the end of June after his knee injury was found to be worse than previously thought.

The county’s director of cricket, Steve Rhodes, explained, “He had a bad knee but the specialist who he went to see at the end of the season found that it was a fat pad problem and that injections would help it down; that’s what he [had] hoped . It meant it did take a bit of time for the healing process after the injection before they could test him.

“Unfortunately it wasn’t much better, which was sad, [and] he had to have an arthroscopy. In the resulting arthroscopy the surgeon also found a damaged area that needed immediate repair. All in all it was the worst possible case for us in the procedure of trying to get him right. I’m pretty sad for Gareth but it’s a door shut for Gareth and it will open for somebody else.”

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