Turning down County Offers

[Lions81]

http://www.hindu.com/2004/04/22/stories/2004042206371900.htm

I think this is a very positive thing for Indian cricket. I was always astounded at how many regular international Indian cricketers would go play country cricket in England. It always struck me as counterproductive: they'd always be playing cricket and never get a chance to rest or work on fitness and other such things. But now with Laxman and Kumble saying no, and in essence saying my national team is more important, this shows that the mindset of the Indian team as a whole has switched. I also think it makes much more sense for players like Sriram and Kartik to go to England, as they will be young and hungry and will likely perform better and also can improve their play and hope to be noticed by the Indian selectors. I don't know what Chopra's thinking though. Perhaps he's assumed he's the odd man out?

 

[NikhilN]

I agree with Laxman here...he is really not in good form right now so he should just say home and train.

 

[age_master]

some players enjoy going over there and playing cricket without as much media pressure etc - just going and playing lots and lots of cricket.

 

[krkode]

Isn't there a lot of media pressure on Internationals playing for counties anyway?

I dunno, but I rarely see articles and stuff on some county player who does well, but whenever Yuvraj or Sehwag did something significant last year it was all over the place.

I've always viewed internationals in counties as a way to aquaint oneself with the climate, and something different.

It's all good, though, that these guys have opted not to. Kumble has already done it before, and if Laxman chooses to stay back and do stuff here, I think that's great. He is in the prime of his batting career and he may as well spend it in India.

 

[Swervy]

Isn't there a lot of media pressure on Internationals playing for counties anyway?

I dunno, but I rarely see articles and stuff on some county player who does well, but whenever Yuvraj or Sehwag did something significant last year it was all over the place.

I've always viewed internationals in counties as a way to aquaint oneself with the climate, and something different.

It's all good, though, that these guys have opted not to. Kumble has already done it before, and if Laxman chooses to stay back and do stuff here, I think that's great. He is in the prime of his batting career and he may as well spend it in India.

hehehehe..when did Yuvraj or Sehwag do anything significant in county cricket

 

[Sehwag309]

Why only English County, is there no way one can play in Australia

 

[venx86]

A good thread ! There have been reports suggesting that Harbhajan Singh wanted to get his fingers back to full motion before the Asia Cup and ICC Champions Trophy and expressed his desire to represent a county side in order to get match fitness !! I really wonder if any of the clubs were listening to his statement !

Yeah Sriram has been a there and thereabouts for such a long time and unfortunately has to fall as a victim of the selectoral process in India ! I feel this stint with Scotland will do him more good than harm, where he will play against some decent county bowling attacks and get some exposure in English Conditions. Yeah...but unfortunately the English clubs are focussing more towards Australians and South Africans, whos names are virtually unheard of that they simply ignore Indian talent !

Kumble was offered a contract by Middlesex, but he cited personal reasons for refusal of the offer ! And with regards to Laxman.....I guess he made a mistake by turning down the offer as he needs some momentum going into top grade tournaments !

 

[Swervy]

A good thread ! There have been reports suggesting that Harbhajan Singh wanted to get his fingers back to full motion before the Asia Cup and ICC Champions Trophy and expressed his desire to represent a county side in order to get match fitness !! I really wonder if any of the clubs were listening to his statement !

Yeah Sriram has been a there and thereabouts for such a long time and unfortunately has to fall as a victim of the selectoral process in India ! I feel this stint with Scotland will do him more good than harm, where he will play against some decent county bowling attacks and get some exposure in English Conditions. Yeah...but unfortunately the English clubs are focussing more towards Australians and South Africans, whos names are virtually unheard of that they simply ignore Indian talent !

Kumble was offered a contract by Middlesex, but he cited personal reasons for refusal of the offer ! And with regards to Laxman.....I guess he made a mistake by turning down the offer as he needs some momentum going into top grade tournaments !

i dont think they ignore Indian talent , its just that Indian players frequently dont do that well in England domestic cricket (see Sehwag,Yuvraj,Ganguly..even Tendulkar a few years ago)...the only one i can think of who did much is Kumble.

The counties need to know that they will be getting their moneys (monies???!!!) worth...Indian batsmen tend to struggle vs the seaming ball...so what is the point...Indian batsmen have been given chances, and rarely succeed

 

[Linda]

http://www.hindu.com/2004/04/22/stories/2004042206371900.htm

I think this is a very positive thing for Indian cricket. I was always astounded at how many regular international Indian cricketers would go play country cricket in England. It always struck me as counterproductive: they'd always be playing cricket and never get a chance to rest or work on fitness and other such things. But now with Laxman and Kumble saying no, and in essence saying my national team is more important, this shows that the mindset of the Indian team as a whole has switched. I also think it makes much more sense for players like Sriram and Kartik to go to England, as they will be young and hungry and will likely perform better and also can improve their play and hope to be noticed by the Indian selectors. I don't know what Chopra's thinking though. Perhaps he's assumed he's the odd man out?

I dont think playing County cricket means you value your national team less. For alot of players, playing County cricket is good for them, and they probably feel it improves them for their international duties.
It's an individual's decision whether a non-english player plays for a county or not. Everyone's different.

 

[Sehwag309]

Recently, in the Ind/Pak test, Rameez Raja and Manjrekar were disucssing that youahana and other youngsters should play in county as it will correct many mistakes.

 

[Sehwag309]

When did tendulkar last play for yorkshire

 

[Lions81]

I dont think playing County cricket means you value your national team less. For alot of players, playing County cricket is good for them, and they probably feel it improves them for their international duties.
It's an individual's decision whether a non-english player plays for a county or not. Everyone's different.

With the amount of international cricket played nowadays, and especially India, which tends to have a heavier than usual schedule, playing in the English county does more harm than good for the regular international players.

 

[Lions81]

Recently, in the Ind/Pak test, Rameez Raja and Manjrekar were disucssing that youahana and other youngsters should play in county as it will correct many mistakes.

I disagree with them. I mean to be blunt about it, the time to really learn anything from English country cricket is pretty much over. They're behind the curve on technology and dare I say it, talent. The real place they should go would be Australia or maybe South Africa. Although there is still definitely some value to playing there. But for a player of Youhana's accomplishments to go to England seems a sidestep rather than a step forward.

 

[Sanz]

hehehehe..when did Yuvraj or Sehwag do anything significant in county cricket

I agree Yuvraj didn't do anything significant but IMO Sehwag did okay in county Cricket - http://www.rediff.com/cricket/county_sehwag.htm

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I disagree with them. I mean to be blunt about it, the time to really learn anything from English country cricket is pretty much over. They're behind the curve on technology and dare I say it, talent. The real place they should go would be Australia or maybe South Africa. Although there is still definitely some value to playing there. But for a player of Youhana's accomplishments to go to England seems a sidestep rather than a step forward.

I'm really struggling to see how you can say we're behind the curve in technology. Most Counties have acadamies now and our national acadamy is the best in the world. If anything id say we led the world on the technology side of cricket. Remember which country invented hawkeye? :P
As for talent yes we've probably not had the players coming through we had hoped in the last 15 years but the current U19 side did very well in the world cup and we have some strong youngsters closing in on the england side.

Most international sides want their younger batsmen to come to england to finish off their techniques (Michael Clarke just the latest example). So we cant be doing that much wrong

 

[krkode]

hehehehe..when did Yuvraj or Sehwag do anything significant in county cricket

Oh well, not much. They did hit a couple of good ones, if I recall right, and whenever they did it was all over the place.

Same with Ganguly when he was playing for Lancashire. Except there was more on how he didn't get along with the Lancs than on how well/bad he batted.

Dravid with Scotland last year is a better example. Scotland isn't a team with much publicity, I don't think, but didn't they get a lot of that with Dravid on their side? Of course, they also played very well last year...

 

[badgerhair]

When did tendulkar last play for yorkshire

Tendulkar played for Yorkshire in 1992, when he was still a teenager. He didn't exactly set the world alight, but Yorkshire were very pleased with him and would happily have had him back the following year, but it didn't work out and we got Richie Richardson instead.

On the wider issue, whether Indian players would benefit from playing in county cricket depends on whether you think that playing on slow Indian tracks in domestic cricket is adequate preparation for the international circuit. It's certainly easier to get a first team game for a county than for an Australian State team.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Sanz]

^ Most Indian players who decide to play county cricket do it for fun and money(with a few eXceptions ). IMO They think of it as a nice vacation which they dont have to pay for. Preparing for International Circuit (by playing county Cricket) is last item in their agenda.

 

[Lions81]

On an unrelated note, Krkode, I read a post of yours on another thread stating you were doing the whole college process thing. How'd that work out? Well I hope! I went through that two years ago, that is one annoying thing! If you don't mind, which schools are you considering? It's okay if you don't want to get into it. Congratulations on being done with it!

 

[Lions81]

I'm really struggling to see how you can say we're behind the curve in technology. Most Counties have acadamies now and our national acadamy is the best in the world. If anything id say we led the world on the technology side of cricket. Remember which country invented hawkeye? :P
As for talent yes we've probably not had the players coming through we had hoped in the last 15 years but the current U19 side did very well in the world cup and we have some strong youngsters closing in on the england side.

Most international sides want their younger batsmen to come to england to finish off their techniques (Michael Clarke just the latest example). So we cant be doing that much wrong

I probably am being a bit too pessimistic about English county cricket sorry. But I still think Australian state cricket has a higher quality of play so international players would benefit more from playing with them.