Former Coast cricketer Solomon Budinger signs deal with English County side Nottinghamshire

A WINTER trip to England to play village cricket has opened the door to a professional career for emerging Gold Coast product Solomon Budinger.

A WINTER trip to England to play village cricket has opened the door to a professional career for emerging Gold Coast product Solomon Budinger.

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A former first XI captain and two-time premiership winner with The Southport School, Budinger last week signed a two-year deal with English County side Nottinghamshire after impressing during the recently-completed second XI Twenty20 competition.

The 20-year-old batsman, a Coomera Hope Island junior and ex-Gold Coast Dolphin, arrived in the UK in April last year for a stint in Essex village cricket but was referred to Nottinghamshire after just one game.

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Having impressed during a trial period, Budinger was handed an academy contract last season and went on to average more than 42 at a strike rate of 164 in second XI T20 cricket.

Born in England but raised on the Coast from the age of seven, the aggressive left-hander is now in pre-season training with Notts and has the chance to push for first-class selection in 2020.

Former Gold Coast cricketer Soloman Budinger has signed a two-year contract with English County side Nottinghamshire.

“It’s an exciting time for me,” Budinger, who has already amassed more than 1000 runs for the club, said.

“I have watched games at Trent Bridge on TV but before joining the club I had never been here so I was a bit speechless when I first arrived. I like to put pressure on the bowler when I am batting and now we’ve got a good competitive rivalry amongst the young players to get the best out of ourselves.

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“I’m looking forward getting going at the start of next year, hopefully getting myself on a pre-season tour and then pushing for selection during the season.”

A junior teammate of locally-raised England Lions representative, Budinger’s time in Australia also featured a Kookaburra Cup debut during Coomera’s premiership-winning 2014-15 campaign, Gold Coast junior representation and a Queensland under-19 berth.

Budinger practices his catching on the Gold Coast beaches in 2012. Picture: Adam Head

With his family still based on the Glitter Strip, he will be back home for Christmas but father Graham said he would return a new man.

“Sol has been fortunate to experience playing with Dan Christian, Alex Hales and Ravichandran Aswin this season and now has a great opportunity to continue to learn and develop his game,” Graham said.

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“Sol has been recognised as a white-ball cricketer and had an exceptional season in the T20 second XI competition, being rewarded with a call up to the Nottinghamshire Outlaws squad, training with the team and running drinks at a couple of games. He has a large friendship group inside and outside of cricket on the Coast and many people are asking me ‘how is he travelling with his cricket?’.”

Notts director of cricket Mick Newell said Budinger had the potential to make an impact at the club.

“I’ve watched a lot of Sol and he is an extremely exciting talent with the bat in hand,” Newell said.

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“Some of the innings I have witnessed him play for the second team have been amazing and I’m excited to see how far he can go.

“He brings a real energy to the game when he’s in the side and hopefully he can start pushing for places across all three formats from the start of next summer.”