Woodster
International Captain
Hopefully there will be some continuity and familiarity, perhaps even loyalty, between the overseas player and their county. Am I right in thinking that Smith signed a longer contract than is the norm for an overseas player, a three-year deal I seem to think. Alviro Petersen has certainly had a few counties, Essex, Glamorgan, and Somerset in the last few years, and Chanderpaul has certainly done the circuit. I certainly think certain signings such as Klinger, Patel, maybe Sarwan, may well have a certain bond with their counties and could see their return to the sides in the years ahead.Woodster, I reckon we will see more and more relationships formed now for overseas players. Chanderpaul, Klinger, Sarwan, Petersen, Smith, Patel, Williamson all are returning to the counties they were with last season.
If it is not personal relationships, it may be international. Like Bird in for Copeland and something like Elgar coming on for Petersen last season.
Personally, I would prefer South Africans to choose playing county cricket over IPL every day of the week. Play proper cricket and learn more about their games. So chuffed for Kyle Abbott that he is getting this opportunity for example.
I think there'll always be a variety of reasons of why clubs plump for the overseas player, in terms of national familiarity with Northants opting for Bird to replace Copeland, it could be from recommendations, and John Bracewell was always a fan of the NZ imports for Gloucester for the obvious reasons. Relationships could well form between the counties and the agents/national boards/coaches, etc.
Yes, while I may be biased towards the English domestic game and the longer format of cricket, I strongly believe a season in England would prove more beneficial to a player's development than a few weeks in the IPL, even if their agent may disagree!Be interesting to see how Kyle Abbott goes, from what I have seen of him, he should certainly enjoy conditions over here. Although I did think the same of Friedel de Wet.