Monday, August 28, 2006
England's forgotten man seeks to get out of a spin
Ok no cheating right? Which 12 players were the first to be given Central contracts in 2000? I could only get 10 but one of those that I knew was because he is best known for being forgotten.
Before Monty there was Giles and before Gilo was...Chris Schofield. Given a contract back in 2000 he lasted all of two test and despite a 50 he was wicketless and quikcly sent back to Lancashire. He suffered from the same unfortunate mishap that befell (and continues to befall) Ian Salisbury - himself once the great English spin hope - the long hops and full tosses, although in his autobiography Nasser Hussain hints that Schofield was a cocky git.
Anyway things went wrong at Lancashire and he was released and, if memory serves, he tried to sue Lancashire CCC for unfair dismissal. Anyway he has since been scratching around the second XIs of Durham, Sussex and latterly Surrey and it is Surrey who have offered light at the end of the tunnel after injuries to Anil Kumble and Ian Salisbury left Surrey with only Nayan Doshi as a fit spinner.
So Surrey have given Schofield a contract for the rest of the season and he made his debut in the recent Pro 40 match against Yorkshire and I am happy to report he responded with a perfectly respectable 8-0-39-1. Respectable rather than setting the world alight, but hopefully he will get some overs under his belt and prive his worth. England needs quality spinners and Schofield has all the tricks and just needs the control that hopefully he can regain. Good luck. Your country needs you.
p.s The original 12 were: Atherton, Stewart, Hussain, Ramprakash, Hick, Gough, Caddick, Flintoff, White, Vaughan, Headley and Schofield. The ones I couldn't remmeber were Headley and Ramprakash (in his last stint as an international cricketer he was promoted to opener with predictable results...)
Before Monty there was Giles and before Gilo was...Chris Schofield. Given a contract back in 2000 he lasted all of two test and despite a 50 he was wicketless and quikcly sent back to Lancashire. He suffered from the same unfortunate mishap that befell (and continues to befall) Ian Salisbury - himself once the great English spin hope - the long hops and full tosses, although in his autobiography Nasser Hussain hints that Schofield was a cocky git.
Anyway things went wrong at Lancashire and he was released and, if memory serves, he tried to sue Lancashire CCC for unfair dismissal. Anyway he has since been scratching around the second XIs of Durham, Sussex and latterly Surrey and it is Surrey who have offered light at the end of the tunnel after injuries to Anil Kumble and Ian Salisbury left Surrey with only Nayan Doshi as a fit spinner.
So Surrey have given Schofield a contract for the rest of the season and he made his debut in the recent Pro 40 match against Yorkshire and I am happy to report he responded with a perfectly respectable 8-0-39-1. Respectable rather than setting the world alight, but hopefully he will get some overs under his belt and prive his worth. England needs quality spinners and Schofield has all the tricks and just needs the control that hopefully he can regain. Good luck. Your country needs you.
p.s The original 12 were: Atherton, Stewart, Hussain, Ramprakash, Hick, Gough, Caddick, Flintoff, White, Vaughan, Headley and Schofield. The ones I couldn't remmeber were Headley and Ramprakash (in his last stint as an international cricketer he was promoted to opener with predictable results...)
