Thrash Talk: Overseas cricketers playing in SA grade competition for the 2018/19 season
Sri Lankan internationals, English young guns and a Caribbean captain make up just some of the overseas imports making their mark in SA grade cricket this summer.
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Each summer a legion of foreign cricketers descend on Adelaide to play in the local grade competition with varying levels of success.
Some, such as one-time Prospect batsman and now England captain Joe Root, have gone on to great things after spending a season playing in Adelaide’s top cricket league.
With community cricket across Adelaide taking its annual bye for the Test match, Thrash Talk has run the rule over the overseas batsmen and bowlers in SA for the 2018/19 summer, and how they are faring so far.
JAMES HARRIS (Northern Districts/England)
Matches: 3
Batting: 102 runs @ 34
Bowling: 4 wickets @ 46.25
Harris is an experienced bowler who has taken more than 450 first-class wickets with an immediate impact in his three matches for the Jets since November. One of a trio of English imports at Salisbury Oval this season, Harris took 4/95 and scored 72 against Port Adelaide in just his second appearance. The 28-year-old from Middlesex will be handy for Northern after the Test break.
JOE HAGAN-BURT (Northern Districts/England)
Matches: 2
Batting: 13 runs @ 13
Bowling: 1 wicket @ 81
English 19-year-old Hagan-Burt had a rough start to his summer when he was hit in the head by the ball while bowling. Has been unable to bat since.
TIM ROUSE (Northern Districts/England)
Matches: 8
Batting: 398 runs @ 56.86
Bowling: 7 wickets @ 48.71
Somerset opener Rouse started the season on fire for the Jets with scores of 124, 108 not out and 79 to begin his stint in Adelaide. He has dropped away in recent weeks, having made starts but failed to go on with them. The 22-year-old’s off-spin has had mixed returns but he has snared three-wicket hauls in two matches.
ALEX ECKLAND (Adelaide/England)
Matches: 6
Keeping: 5 catches, 2 stumpings
Batting: 17 @ 3.4
Dorset wicketkeeper Eckland has struggled with the bat, having been run out twice, but has impressed at the Buffalos behind the stumps. Had two key stumpings in a win over Northern Districts in round three and a pair of catches in the round six defeat of powerhouse Tea Tree Gully.
DASUN SHANAKA (Prospect/Sri Lanka)
Matches: 2
Batting: 28 runs @ 14
Bowling: 1 wicket @ 88
Shanaka is a current Sri Lankan international who is playing at the Pirates during his home country’s tour of New Zealand. The 27-year-old all-rounder is a right-arm medium bowler and explosive middle-order batsman suited to the shorter forms.
SHAMINDA ERANGA (Prospect/Sri Lanka)
Matches: 2
Batting: 3 runs @ 1.5
Bowling: 1 wicket @ 69
Injuries have curtailed the 19-test Sri Lankan quick’s start at Prospect with just two A-grade appearances so far. The 32-year-old played in the Pirates’ opening two matches but has since only fronted up in B grade as a batsman. If fit, Eranga has the potential to terrorise batsmen in grade cricket.
MISHAL KHAN (Southern District/Pakistan)
Matches: 3
Batting: 22 runs @ 11
Bowling: 3 wickets @ 54
Khan is an Pakistan under-19 international who bowls with genuine pace and has opened for Southern Districts in his three matches so far. A member of the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy, Khan showed his destructive ability with the ball when he bowled Prospect’s Harvey Brennan and sent the stumps cartwheeling.
Who doesn't love watching wickets fly?! 🙃
— SACA Competitions (@SACAComps) November 5, 2018
A snippet from @ProspectPirates v @SDCCstingrays on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/6CdR7Zl53N
MAHAAZ AHMED (Southern District/England)
Matches: 3
Batting: 72 runs @ 36
Bowling: 2 wickets @ 96.50
Ahmed, an 18-year-old off-spinner, began in the Stingrays’ B grade before he was quickly elevated to the seniors. Took 2/117 against Adelaide University.
BRINDER PHAGURA (Sturt/England)
Matches: 7
Batting: 174 runs @ 58
Bowling: 10 wickets @ 26.80
Staffordshire all-rounder Phagura has quickly impressed with both bat and ball for the Blues. He took 5/26 in a great seam bowling display against the Jets in a round-four win and held Sturt’s first-innings together in round six against Kensington with 82 not out, batting at No.8. Followed it up with an unbeaten 52 the next week against Glenelg.
EUAN WOODS (Sturt/England)
Matches: 7
Batting: 138 runs @ 19.71
Bowling: 8 wickets @ 30.50
Woods has not got going as he would have hoped in his second season at Price Memorial Oval. His average of 19.71 with the bat is well down on last summer’s rate of 455 runs at 56.88. But he is still chipping in with wickets and his eight so far has already exceeded last season’s A-grade tally of six. The Blues will be hoping he can recapture his 2017/18 form in the back half of the campaign.
MARTIN ANDERSSON (West Torrens/England)
Matches: 6
Batting: 301 runs @ 60.2
Bowling: 3 wickets @ 20.3
Andersson, a Middlesex all-rounder who started slowly, has been a revelation for the Eagles of late. Scores of 99, 80 and 92 over his past four matches have displayed his genuine quality with the bat. West Torrens and Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy head coach Mark Harrity has labelled him as “one to watch”. Injury troubles have restricted his bowling so far.
JOSHUA BISHOP (Woodville/Barbados)
Matches: 3
Batting: 21 runs @ 10.50
Bowling: 3 wickets at 30.67
Bishop, captain of the Barbados under-19 team and 2017 West Indies under-19 cricketer of the year, has made a good start to his stint at Woodville while in Adelaide with the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy. The left-arm spinner took 2/32 in the Peckers’ clash with Northern Districts. Has an economic 3/92 from 24 overs in his three A-grade matches.
patrick.keam@news.com.au
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