Maxwell tips Worrall to be county success
26 March 2018
Gloucestershire's new signing Dan Worrall can use his time in England as a potential springboard to re-ignite his international aspirations - that's according to one of Australia's most respected journalists.
ABC's Jim Maxwell - who was trending on Twitter over the weekend, after his emotional commentary on the controversial Test between Austalia and South Africa - has covered over 250 Tests in his long career. More than 50 of those have been between Australia and England, and he believes Worrall's spell at the Brightside Ground will give him valuable experience.
"From what I've seen of him in Australia bowling with a Kookaburra ball, he did enough to suggest that with a Duke ball in England he could be very handy" said Maxwell, who is now 67 and joined the ABC in 1973. "He bowls in and out swing at good pace, and should be very useful if he adapts to the conditions."
Worrall will be one of eight Australians on the county circuit this summer, although only he and Shaun Marsh at Glamorgan will be playing in Division 2. Increasingly, Maxwell says,players are minimising their off seasons by looking for openings across the globe.
"These guys are professionals and if they are not playing in the IPL they want opportunities to keep their careers going" he went on. "Yes they are earning but the experience probably matters more than making money, and that's why Mitchell Marsh is in England playing for Surrey. Travis Head at Worcestershire also has a chance to further his reputation and Worrall having played for Australia meant he fulfilled an important pre-condition of playing county cricket."
Worrall is available for both Championship and 50 over cricket until the beginning of July, and Jim Maxwell says you only have to look at Andrew Tye's rise in status since his summer at Gloucestershire in 2016 to what difference some time in England can make.
"Worrall is on the ODI periphery at the moment but he's only 26 so there is still a chance for him if he hits a seam of form" he concluded. "A couple of years ago you might have watched Andrew Tye playing in Perth and he wouldn't have stood out, but he's become a minor sensation in T20 cricket through his uncanny ability to vary his pace in a way that batsmen cannot work out. You never know, there could be something from this experience for Worrall which improves him to a point where he could be a rookie for the Ashes in 2019."
