Indians in county cricket

[Arjun]

Every time a new county cricket season in England starts, I read of many Australian players as well as a few South Africans, and a lot of Pakistanis getting recruited. But why are there very few Indians in county cricket here? Last season, there were four, and this time, just one. I would like to know how the teams decide on which players to recruit from overseas. By the way, what is your opinion of Dinesh Mongia's performance so far?

 

[Tim]

Same thing I find about NZ players...although many get contracts but then can't play because of injury.
I would think quite a few NZ bowlers would be handy in English conditions.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

One of the big factors for County clubs is price and Indian batsmen I expect aren't the most economical signings at the moment.

 

[Arjun]

One of the big factors for County clubs is price and Indian batsmen I expect aren't the most economical signings at the moment.

Are they cheaper than the Australian reserve players? In fact, you can pick a team of 11 from them!

Besides, who would pay big money for Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir or Dinesh Mongia?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Are they cheaper than the Australian reserve players? In fact, you can pick a team of 11 from them!

Besides, who would pay big money for Akash Chopra, Gautam Gambhir or Dinesh Mongia?

The Australian players such as Stuart Law and Darren Lehmann have already been tied to their respective clubs for many years now, so that's a bit of a different story. The others such as Watson and Clarke I imagine would be cheaper than a Laxman or Sehwag.

Regarding Chopra, Gambhir and Mongia (is he still anywhere near contention?), I guess it's just a preference or availability. The same problem lies in West Indies cricket and it doesn't help us any.

 

[Arjun]

Mongia (is he still anywhere near contention?)

He's currently playing for Lancashire. He started off rather well. I doubt if he's needed these days in the Indian ODI side.

As for the question of availability, all of them were available during the break. I think a stint in a county side would benefit some of India's young fast bowlers, since they are predominantly swing bowlers. Srinath was helped a lot by his stay in Gloucester. Even the openers will learn a few tricks.

Or do they just want big names? That was a good point, about the WI players- I hardly ever hear of any in the county matches.

 

[desai]

counties want their star recruit player to perform but normally indians have never played well....look at perfomances by indians in 2003, yuvraj's stint with yorkshire was complete failure [ i think he was also dropped once ], sehwag's perfomance was ok but not par with his standards. same can be said for kaif....in last ten years only kumble and dravid have achieved success playing county.

 

[V Reddy]

Sriram is doing better as a bowler than as a batsman for Scotland .

Chopra and Kartik are playing in the leagues in Eng. I would think that someone like Kartik would do well in County Cricket. The fewer players i think is more to do with the confidense that the county officials have in players from a country . Indian players are known to be suspect against moving ball and though they have started to do well now , it would require sometime to erase that opinion. Indian bowlers aren't that good apart from those who play for India and so no explanation req there. The same thing can be said about WI batsman and at present WI bowlers too. They would choose Aussies and SAF's b'coz they are a pretty safe bet as they pretty good on all conditions and also the success story of Aussie players means there will be more demand for players from that country. Also they are the two best teams and also the standard of domestic cricket in those countries is very very good compared to other countries and so the player has better chance of succeeding than from other countries. About Pak , you would not see a Pak batsman getting picked. They always produced top class bowlers and have huge talent pool to pick bowlers from and again success of players like Saqlain and Mahmood means the counties are confident to pick those players.

 

[Craig]

Of all Pakistani batsmen I'm surprised a county hasn't considered a quality batsman like Yousef Youhana for their County campaigin.

 

[Arjun]

That was just a myth- Indian batsmen can now handle a moving ball far bettter than in the 80's and 90's. They had some success in England, in Headingley and Hampshire. They succeeded in Australia, where the balldid move a little. The batting in Lahore was nothing special, but Yuvraj and Irfan brought the team to a respectable score. Yuvraj is a lot better against seamers now- he can handle the moving ball better. Besides, many English batsmen have their own problems against the moving ball, as in Kingsmead, Durban, 2003. The batting in county matches is nothing great, and they would benefit by picking a few Indians- it helps both the Indian players and the county sides. Even the bowlers who play in the national team, especially Pathan and Balaji, should do well, since they swing the ball. There is a lot of talent in India that is not recognised.

West Indians are stylish and aggressive batsmen ,adn they, like the Indians, can make the matches more entertaining. The same can be said of the Pakistanis. But choosing 11 Australians will not help them at all- it will only make the Aussies better prepared before the next match they play in the national team, giving them the upper hand. The same can be said about the South Africans.

 

[FRAZ]

Every time a new county cricket season in England starts, I read of many Australian players as well as a few South Africans, and a lot of Pakistanis getting recruited. But why are there very few Indians in county cricket here? Last season, there were four, and this time, just one. I would like to know how the teams decide on which players to recruit from overseas. By the way, what is your opinion of Dinesh Mongia's performance so far?

FIRST OF ALL Hi ,
Indian players actually play good as a unit and under certain conditions .And their individual performers are definately good but subject to certain "conditions". And as far as Tendulkar and 2 , 3 other exceptional Indian players are concerned then they make more money while being at home .

 

[Arjun]

The question is not of money, but experience. If Gautam Gambhir did advertisements for batteries and pickup trucks, he would make a lot of money, even as much as those County players from overseas. But if he went to open the innings for Warwicks, he would gain a lot of experience in facing a moving ball, or opening in cold climate, with thick cloud cover. He could fine tune his skills. That is why I want to see a few Indians in county cricket. They can send the Indian A-team to England again, but that is unlikely, though a trip to NZ would be a lot better. Why are they going to Zimbabwe and Kenya? Don't the BCCI chiefs know of better tours?

 

[Neil Pickup]

1) Cost
2) Unavailability
3) Rarely successful of late (eg Sehwag and Yuvraj in 2003)

 

[Sanz]

IMO most Indian cricketers(National Team) dont take county cricket seriously and use it as an opportunity to make more money or a paid vaccation in England.

 

[Swervy]

IMO most Indian cricketers(National Team) dont take county cricket seriously and use it as an opportunity to make more money or a paid vaccation in England.

and if thats the case, then county cricket is better for not having many indian cricketers in...however I feel that that your opinion on this is balony,and I think you are doing Indian cricketers a great disservice

 

[FRAZ]

Of all Pakistani batsmen I'm surprised a county hasn't considered a quality batsman like Yousef Youhana for their County campaigin.

Pakistani batsmen are all crap for sure . inconsistent and ediotic .
Bowlers are ok but led by a dumb captain otherwise its the best bowling line up often hired by good clubs . Irrelevent but just came up in my mind that I think as a captain of team Hitlor should be cloned because its a disgraced team and only he can handle it .

 

[Arjun]

Someone mentioned Yuvraj's disastrous Yorkshire season, but Yorkshire is a very difficult place to bat in. Boycott knows this best- only seasoned performers have played well there.

 

[Swervy]

Someone mentioned Yuvraj's disastrous Yorkshire season, but Yorkshire is a very difficult place to bat in. Boycott knows this best- only seasoned performers have played well there.

i think all this its a nightmare batting at Headingley stuff is somewhat exaggerated

 

[Arjun]

Boycott knows his county best, so he may have a point.

 

[superkingdave]

Yuvraj played in just 2 county championship matches at Headingly, he averaged 31(incl his only 50) there against just over 7 elsewhere - now tell me how he did crap because of headingly!