Overseas pros: The good, the bad and the ugly

HUW TURBERVILL on how signing a player from abroad can be a lottery

One of my first reporting assignments on Fleet Street was being dispatched to Lancashire in 2000 to talk to a player accused of match-fixing. India allrounder Ajay Sharma was playing for Padiham against Ribblesdale Wanderers in the Ribblesdale League.

The next week The Sunday Telegraph informed me I was to make an almost identical journey, this time from my south London home to watch Pakistani quick Ata-ur-Rehman play for Blackburn Northern in the Ribblesdale League.

That first week Sharma took 6 for 46 off 18 overs with his slow left-armers, and then smashed 70. The following week Ata-ur-Rehman took 7 for 46 and hammered 71 against Whalley. Well, I thought, I wonder what the other players made of it? Would you give up your Saturday afternoons, especially if a bowler, to play second fiddle to that?

Each to their own, of course, and there is no doubt some amazing cricketers have played in leagues up and down the United Kingdom, and bought untold pleasure to team-mates, spectators and even opponents alike. How about this for a line-up of league cricketers? Misbah-ul-Haq (Penicuik); GA Headley (Dudley); IVA Richards (Rishton); LN Constantine (Nelson); SR Waugh (Nelson); RN ten Doeschate (Clacton); CC Griffith (Burnley); WW Hall (Accrington); JC Laker (Norton); MA Holding (Rishton); SF Barnes (Saltaire).

A lot of clubs in the UK have overseas professionals. A lot don’t. Many bring great value. Many do not. Some have performed heroics on the field. Some off it. The trick is to find someone who is prepared to do both.

Several readers have regaled me with their tales. For legal reasons, sadly, I have had to withhold some names. 

Wolverhampton CC’s Matt Kleinveldt has extensive first-class experience with Cape Cobras, and the off-spinning allrounder “has been useful on the pitch but his work with the kids and the club has been 10 out of 10,” according to an admirer. “Sustainable development, that is what you want, not quick wins.”

Another player from the Midlands did not have such a favourable view of his club’s recruitment, though. “We had a lad over from Brisbane. He was found in a local snooker club. Nice bloke, but one of the worst cricketers I have ever seen – he barely scored a run. He started in the 1sts but ended up in the 5ths.”

A club in the north-west have had three different overseas professionals in four years. “The first two years we were lucky with the player we had, a young South African. Not only did he take 60-plus wickets each season and score more than 400 runs, almost single-handedly guiding us to a promotion, he was great to have around off the field. He coached juniors and seniors, took part in social events and made up the numbers in Sunday friendly games.

“The following year we brought over a West Indian batsman with first-class experience. He took half a season to get going but his runs were a major factor in us being promoted. Off the field, though, he was far below what the previous player had brought. He was uninterested in coaching juniors and made few appearances at senior nets.

“The following year we found another South African. He was dreadful. He flat-out refused to get involved in any coaching, went at more than six an over and couldn’t score a run! To add insult to injury he managed to wind up every club member he came into contact with. After four or five weeks we shipped him off to another league and, I’m told, they in turn sent him back home a few weeks later.

“On the pitch, things seem to be going well. However, below the surface, the club is in turmoil. The nets desperately need refurbishing, the mower could use work and much more besides, but we cannot afford it.

"It is unsustainable and must be doomed to long-term failure with the current model. I feel that paid players are killing my club and, anecdotally, many similar clubs around the country. I simply cannot understand why clubs feel the need to pay players at our level.” 

Andy, @adlewalker979, tweeted to me: “I’ve seen clubs shelling thousands out on players, with no proper sightscreens, no hot water in the clubhouses etc.”

And finally – and most outrageously – we heard a tale about a player who stole all the silverware from the family he was staying with… then charged the excess baggage fee back to the club.