Pat Brown hungry for second taste of international cricket after winter debut

The Worcestershire seamer has been included in England's 55-man training squad ahead of the international summer, having made his T20I bow in New Zealand over the winter

Pat Brown has a “hunger” for more international cricket after making his initial England breakthrough last winter.

The Worcestershire paceman was selected for the T20I Series in New Zealand after two successful campaigns in the Vitality Blast for the 2018 winners and 2019 runners-up.

He featured in both warm-up games and four of the five encounters against the Black Caps and demonstrated sufficient potential to be chosen for the white ball leg of the tour of South Africa.

A back injury suffered whilst training with the Melbourne Stars in preparation for the Big Bash League dashed Brown’s hopes of facing the Proteas.

But he is back now involved with England – along with County team-mate Moeen Ali - after being included in the group of 55 players asked to return to training in preparation for behind-closed-doors cricket subject to UK Government clearance.

Brown said: “To have the backing to play in six out of seven games was fantastic and to get the backing after one game didn’t go my way, when the figures were pretty average, and to go again the next game was massive for my confidence.

“I think it helped me to kick on at the back end of that series. That was partly an experimental squad but it was nice to play.

“I knew there were people ahead of me still but to get the call-up as well for South Africa for both legs (T20I and ODI) gave me confidence even though sadly because of injury I was unable to go there.

“It [the injury] is upsetting for a few days but then you have to pick yourself up and crack on and put a target on how you get back there (international level) because you’ve now got a hunger for it.”

Brown admits facing the same opposition on a regular basis in a short period of time was a new challenge.

He said: “The fact you are playing the same team over and over again gives them a good chance to look at you and work you out a little bit more.

“I suppose that is the challenge of international cricket and why your skills have to be so well rounded in order to succeed.

“In county cricket, you play a team once or twice and don’t see them for another year whereas I was playing the same players four times in ten days.

“They get a good look at you which can make it slightly tricky but that’s instilled into me what I need to do to become a better all-round bowler and to succeed at that level.”

Brown, who signed a new four year contract with Worcestershire during the winter, is full of praise for the support he received during his England bow from captain Eoin Morgan.

He said: “It goes without saying that Eoin is a brilliant captain and his success in winning the World Cup with such a great team shows that.

“But from a personal point of view, he was really supportive. I always knew he was there on your shoulder supporting you in doing what you needed to perform.

“Often the little chats we had would be him just making sure I was clear with what I’m doing, having a plan you stick to and execute, and he is happy to let you get on with it which is a style of captaincy I enjoy and have thrived under with Mo [Moeen Ali] at Worcestershire.”

Courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network.

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