Cricket Diary: Impi closure hits Collingwood and Wright

By Richard Gibson

New Age Impi have disbanded after just one season participating in South Africa’s domestic Twenty20 cricket, leaving captain Paul Collingwood and fellow England international Luke Wright seeking new employers.

Impi, similar to the Unicorns in its composition as the squad was primarily formed from those who failed to be selected for the six established franchises and supplemented by up to four overseas signings, also included Essex’s Netherlands international Ryan ten Doeschate in their ranks. However, the players were informed at the end of May that there will be no second season for them.

Impi were originally to be called Rangers before an 11th hour sponsorship deal was secured. Their squad for 2011-12 was also thrown together at the last-minute after the other franchises dallied over their own personnel.

Although they have been consigned to history winless – 10 defeats and two abandoned contests leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table – under Collingwood’s leadership, other opportunities for their two English imports are a possibility as they were both in the top-20 run-scorers in the competition despite Impi’s collective struggle.

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Wright’s power-hitting did not get its platform at the recent Indian Premier League as he was not required to bat in his one appearance with Pune Warriors.

But his TV performance against Yorkshire in Hove days after his return to England would have been particularly painful for the visitors’ stand-in captain Phil Jaques, who was part of the Hobart Hurricanes team blown apart in the Big Bash League in early January.

Wright registered the fastest hundred in 20-over cricket in Australia, off just 44 balls, and finished with 117 off 60 balls, including eight fours and nine sixes. Jaques must be sick of the sight of the former England all-rounder after witnessing him hit another three-figure score in Sussex’s Clydesdale Bank 40 win.

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Ajmal Shahzad will not be permitted to play for Lancashire in the two Roses Twenty20 Cup contests over the next month as Yorkshire inserted a clause in the terms of his loan - nor would the 26-year-old England fast bowler be allowed to face his employers in the event of the clubs reaching the final stages of the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition.

Shahzad will see out the remainder of the 2012 season at Old Trafford, and then becomes a free agent in October when his current Yorkshire deal expires.

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Durham’s attempts to sign a replacement for Mitchell Johnson in the Friends Life t20 competition have been struck by a visa problem. The north-east county were in discussions with Johnson’s compatriot John Hastings, who has been out of action since last August due to shoulder surgery.

The 26-year-old fast bowler has returned to fitness but his injury lay-off has impacted on his eligibility – under England and Wales Cricket Board guidelines, unqualified cricketers must either have played one Test in the past year or won a combination of 15 caps for their country across one-day and Twenty20 internationals.

Hastings was establishing himself in the Aussies’ limited-overs squad when struck by the shoulder problem, having made his debut in October 2010, but his 11 ODI and three Twenty20 appearances leave him one cap short.

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Dual roles in English cricket appear to be more prevalent than ever these days, and Jack Birkenshaw took advantage of the poor weather to flit from one to the other in the match between Durham and Lancashire last week.

Birkenshaw, officially in the north-east as one of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s pitch liaison officers, was able to double up as a spin consultant during a rain interruption, taking the hosts’ young leg-spinner Scott Borthwick for a tutorial in the club’s indoor school.

Birkenshaw, who won five caps for England as an off-spinner, has also spent one-on-one sessions with another leggie, Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid, this year.

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Date: 07/06/2012 10:52:30 by Richard Gibson
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