Scotland's reverse-sweeping star fit for the big leagues: The meteoric rise of George Munsey

NICK FRIEND: As a remarkable 2019 comes to an end for the Scotland opener, Munsey – so crucial in his country's T20 World Cup qualification – reflects on his rising stock, a mastery of the reverse sweep and his franchise ambitions

George Munsey is making a name for himself. There are few batsmen more destructive on the international circuit, even fewer who come with greater intrigue.

A scratch golfer by the age of 16, a contemporary of Eddie Pepperell and Tyrrell Hatton; a part-time salesman as he prepares for life after cricket; an opening batsman whose combination of hitting power and innovation has launched him into conversations well beyond home; a propensity to reverse sweep with an almost abnormal capacity, so much so that it has become something of a personal calling card.

In 2019, Munsey has taken off. A stint at the Global T20 Canada is set to be followed in the coming weeks by a role in the T10 League – a format, one would think, unfailingly suited to a terrific bludgeoner of a cricket ball. “The shorter the better, in my book,” he laughs.

A 43-ball 65 provided the base from which Scotland clinched a place at the T20 World Cup following an awkward qualifying tournament, during which time Shane Burger’s side was well below its best.

Yet, for those who follow the sport beyond the international game’s very top tier, it is no secret: Munsey does this for fun. And in a T20 universe where analysts and coaches live on a constant lookout for unexploited talent, the Scot’s stock is rising fast.

In amongst the excitement of a historic win over England in last year’s one-off ODI, his run-a-ball fifty has slid from the radar. Sri Lanka warmed up for this year’s World Cup against Kyle Coetzer’s side but ran into Munsey; he struck 61 off 42 deliveries against Dimuth Karunaratne’s team.

This summer alone, there have been other more brutal efforts – albeit, away from the global arena. In Scotland’s domestic 50-over competition, there was a 49-ball 139 for Eastern Knights – he was at the crease for 13 overs. In the subsequent round, he made a 13-ball 41.

For Scotland A against Gloucestershire’s second string, there was a 32-ball 78. And then, in a T20 game against Bath CC, there was a rapid 147 – a knock that required just 39 deliveries. Against Netherlands, during a T20I tri-series arranged to replace the Euro T20 Slam, Munsey struck an unbeaten 127. A solitary Max O’Dowd over was pillaged for 32. A pre-qualifier clash against Ireland brought a 41-ball 86.

The standard of these games and bowling attacks may have varied, but there is an outrageous consistency to what Munsey has achieved. Only three times since mid-2018 – a spell spanning 19 T20Is – has he failed to pass 15.

In Canada, where he represented Brampton Wolves, the highlight was a rapid, match-winning 66; his victims that day included Sandeep Lamichhane, Mitch McClenaghan, Moises Henriques and Yuvraj Singh.

This is the kind of company Munsey can boast and he wants more of it. There is a caveat, however; Scotland remains the priority.

“That’s the plan, that’s the dream,” the opener tells The Cricketer. For associate cricketers, where regular cricket has not always been a reliable staple, the T20 circuit has opened doors.

“I think the perfect world is that I’m playing all formats for Scotland and then I’m traveling around playing T20 for as many teams as I possibly can. I think that’s the perfect answer.

“But with these things, you don’t know what’s going to happen. You have to take it one tournament at a time and do the best you can, stay fit and keep enjoying the game.”

^{Munsey prepares to open the batting with captain Kyle Coetzer (copyright: ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2018)}

He was meant to play for Leicestershire in last season’s T20 Blast, but that plan was wiped out by overtures from Canada, an opportunity he could ill-afford to turn down. He was part of a squad there that included Shahid Afridi, Colin Munro, Wahab Riaz and Ish Sodhi.

“I had so much fun,” he reflects. It is about more than just that, of course, but T20 has levelled the playing field in that respect, where tradition and reputation mean little.

“The learnings and the experience you get from these tournaments and from these different players can propel yourself and anyone else involved to the next level,” Munsey says, speaking from his own experience of a remarkable summer.

“That’s the key thing – finding ways to keep developing your game, especially in associate cricket. The games are few and far between, so we really need to supplement our match-time as much as we possibly can. These tournaments are a brilliant way for us to get into some really competitive, high-standard cricket.”

Toby Bailey, Cricket Scotland’s national performance coach, describes the impact of the franchise industry on his players as “a snowball effect”, as evidenced by Munsey’s rapid development.

“Once players have these performances and get into franchise leagues, then they experience more and more competitive cricket with better players,” he told The Cricketer.

“From that, players get better. It’s a pretty obvious one. The more cricket you play, the better you get. The better people you play with, the better you get as well.

“What we’re desperate for as well is for players to get into franchise competitions because it just accelerates their learning.

“It’s one of the reasons why you’ve seen Munsey come through. We need more of our players playing in those.”

It is interesting to hear Bailey speak in such glowing terms. For Munsey, the learnings have been immense; he has picked up points that, with hindsight, seem obvious, but that have improved his game, nonetheless.

He broke his thumb on his second day in Canada after being struck while facing a side-arm in the nets. A conversation with Munro followed, focusing in on why he had opted to train in that way. Having arrived at the tournament on the back of a stream of matches, did he have to risk injury against a new ball at full throttle?

“I actually didn’t need to do that,” he reflects. “Sometimes, it’s actually better and easier just to have a few throws, get into good shapes. Those are the sort of things you do just learn from different people and the way that they go about their trade.

“It’s all about taking the best bits out of them and trying to bring them into your game. You don’t need to hit every ball under the sun in training to be ready for a game of cricket. Sometimes, you just need ten balls. Sometimes, you just need a couple of hours of hitting.

“That was one of my biggest learnings from Canada – you can fly to all these places in the world, but as long as your head is right, nothing else really matters.”

The T10 League is next on the agenda, where he will form part of a Northern Warriors side that also features Andre Russell. He recognises the opportunity at play; make a lasting impression one of the most valuable men in the industry and watch the oyster of your world blossom.

Munsey admits he was disappointed not to be picked up in the Hundred draft; his numbers, after all, speak for themselves. In the last two years, he has scored at a strike-rate of 153.3 in his first ten deliveries.

^{Munsey made a run-a-ball half century in Scotland's win over England in 2018}

He is in discussions with county sides regarding white-ball opportunities in 2020, though there are potential stumbling blocks to iron out.

“The key thing for me – and I always stress this to counties – is that Scotland comes first,” he says. There is a loyalty to his cricketing nation with which he is unprepared to break.

“It’s trying to keep that balance. At the end of the day, Scotland are the ones who gave me the opportunity to do all this. They are very supportive, and I wouldn’t want to change that.”

It complicates matters, he acknowledges, but that’s the way it is. He would love to play county cricket, but is aware of the difficulties involved, especially for an associate cricketer; several clubs would want him to commit to 50-over and red-ball competitions, a tough ask as Scotland’s summer schedule fills up.

They will face New Zealand in a one-off ODI next season, but also have three-way tournaments in March, April and June to contend with as part of the new ODI league, which acts as a step on the World Cup qualification pathway.

“My focus in the UK is certainly to play for Scotland,” Munsey explains. “And there are certainly more and more opportunities outside the UK, which – if something can’t work in the English system – there are always plenty of other options to explore.”

The general feeling is that white-ball and T20-only deals may well be easier to come by, given the shape of the domestic schedule going forward.

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be full contracts, which is ironic, because I never really wanted a full contract,” Munsey adds. “I’ve only ever wanted a white-ball contract, which is seen to be a negative. But now it’s turning around to be a positive.

“I’ve really enjoyed the balance so far between traveling to play T20 cricket and playing for Scotland. I think there’s a really nice and healthy balance in playing in different environments and then coming back to your staple.”

There is the extra challenge of fitting in a part-time job in sales – he works for Grays of Cambridge – under which Gray Nicolls, Gilbert and Grays all sit. It is a role he enjoys and one to which he is committed; “after-cricket development”, he calls it.

“I think throwing a county in there would also eat up a lot of my time, which is not necessarily a bad thing,” he stresses. “You have also got to have a life as well. It’s trying to keep everything balanced – and that is at the forefront of my mind when I’m talking to all these teams.”

These days, he comes almost with his own unique selling point – a T20I strike rate this year of 166.45, a burgeoning standing in the game, a shot he is developing beyond the norm. It is not only a case of the runs Munsey scores, but the way in which he goes about it.

He hits a long ball, of course. Equally, however, he is as accomplished as anyone worldwide at switching his hands over. A hockey player in his youth, that is a prerequisite for any left-hander, for whom sticks do not exist.

Even as a left-handed golfer, he is able to outdrive his friends with their right-handed clubs. Munsey is a rare case – the kind that exists as a boundless bundle of natural talent.

It was a stroke that he first unveiled out of frustration as he struggled to dominate a slow medium-pacer in a club game. Now, his reverse-hit is a safety net – not so much a single shot as an array of options. He backs himself to access the entirety of the off-side.

“I genuinely feel confident enough to hit right-handed over mid-off,” he chuckles, though deadly serious.

“Switch-hitting for me is not an issue. If I felt that the reverse sweep was the only thing on but they’d put a third man out, I’d just swap my hands over and hit in front of square.” Matter of fact, ruthless, innovative – he has become an absolute force, perhaps associate cricket’s most intimidating figure.

^{Scotland qualified for the T20 World Cup by beating UAE in a winner-takes-all playoff (copyright: ICC Business Corporation FZ LLC 2018)}

When the stroke was first employed – notably by Kevin Pietersen, it was viewed in many quarters as a joke, a mickey-take. These days, it is a calculated approach. It opens up a part of the ground otherwise closed off.

Munsey talks about it as if it is a mundane task – like he is explaining the process of washing the dishes or putting on his shoes.

During the T20 qualifier, it became his go-to option. If a fielder was placed for the shot, he would clear the man or whip it either side with his hockey hands. Across two overs bowled by UAE’s Sultan Ahmed, Munsey reverse-swept six consecutive deliveries. Two went for six, one for four.

“It’s not necessarily an issue to change direction,” he adds. “You can change your alignment to make the ball go in different directions, make it go finer or squarer. Once you get the hang of these kinds of shots, you can really tweak them or hit them wherever you want.

“I’ve started hitting the ball right-handed over cover because they’ve started to bowl wide blockhole at me to a right-hander (bowled in at his left-hander’s leg-stump), so I’ve just started to practice moosing that over the right-hander’s cover – my left-handed mid-wicket.

“I really like practicing different options, especially trying to get into the bowler’s mind – where they can potentially bowl, whether that’s a yorker, a wide yorker, a slower ball.

“All these different things, just to make sure that if they do something different and they see me go, I’ve got something in the locker to get a boundary.

“My wrists get me out of jail a lot. It gives me a lot of options, which in turn also gives me a lot of confidence, not just to play it but to spend a lot of time practising it as well, which is a real key thing.

“It’s all good and well going out there and having the confidence to play it, but you’ve got to put the time in to nail it in practise. Then, when the ball isn’t quite there, you’ve nailed enough of them to be confident just to keep going through with it.”

It is a strategy that has influenced his coaching; he emphasises the importance of multi-sport learning to his proteges. “I’ve seen the benefit and I live the benefit of playing them,” he says.

Somewhere between those sports – a Scottish melange of golf, hockey and cricket – an unlikely, explosive opening batsman has spouted. If you’re not yet familiar with his work, buckle in.

The meteoric rise of George Munsey, one suspects, is only just beginning.

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