"It was nice for George and myself to play in a high-profile game" - Higgins
20 June 2018
Ryan Higgins believes his selection to play for an ECB XI against India A in a one-day contest at Edgbaston last weekend should serve as encouragement to his fellow Gloucestershire players.
He and teammate George Hankins both featured in the side, selected at short notice by Young Lions coach Jon Lewis, to face Rahul Dravid's tourists after Yorkshire were unable to fulfill the fixture owing to their continued involvement in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
Their call-up came in the wake of some excellent performances in white-ball cricket and proved that geography is no barrier to ECB recognition.
"It was nice for George and myself to play in a high-profile game like that, but it's even better news for the county," reasoned Higgins, who is enjoying life in the West following his winter switch from Middlesex.
"Not too many players from this part of the country get called up for games like this and the fact our performances have been recognised in this way shows there is definitely a pathway."
India may have won by 125 runs, but Gloucestershire's youngsters impressed, Higgins claiming figures of 4-50 from 10 overs while Hankins, deployed as an opener, made 27 and shared in a second-wicket stand of 42 with Derbyshire's Ben Slater.
Higgins added: "We have a lot of good young players here and they should be thinking 'if those two can do it, then why not us'? Hopefully, our playing at Headingley will encourage them to set their sights high and work even harder.
"George and I put together some decent innings in the Royal London Cup and made some good scores. That meant we were noticed."
Deprived of opportunity at Middlesex, the 23-year-old Zimbabwean-born all-rounder has thrived since joining Gloucestershire last October.
He revealed: "I've been playing in both formats and that has really helped progress my game. When you only play white ball cricket, it can be difficult.
"I came here for more opportunities and I've been given a chance to go out there and show what I can do. Playing the red-ball game has really helped my bowling, but it was the runs I scored in the one-day cup that got me the call-up."
Promoted to open the innings in the 50-over competition this summer, 21-year-old Hankins emerged as Gloucestershire's leading run-scorer, compiling 296 at an average of 58.20.
Higgins may be a relative newcomer to the Gloucestershire dressing room, but he has been impressed by what he has seen of the Bath-born batsman so far.
He said: "George is a bit younger than me, but he's already a class player. He hits the ball so hard and he's so strong in the power-play.
"When you look at him, you think he has the ability to go a long way in the game. The way he gets on top of the bounce and hits the ball down the ground is just incredible.
"He plays orthodox cricket shots rather than anything too funky and he has it in his locker to be more aggressive if he needs to be."
Article written by Andrew Stockhausen for the ECB Independent Reporter Network
