Monday, May 12th, 2014

Munro Joins County After Words Of Encouragement From Dipak

Munro Joins County After Words Of Encouragement From Dipak

New Zealand batsman Colin Munro listened to words of encouragement from former Worcestershire all-rounder Dipak Patel before deciding to link up with the county for the 2014 campagn.

The hard-hitting Munro is available for all of Worcestershire's NatWest T20 Blast matches beginning with Friday's away encounter with Durham Jets.

Munro, a member of New Zealand's squad in the ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, will be Worcestershire's second overseas player in the tournament alongside Saeed Ajmal.

He said: "I toured England with New Zealand for a one-day and T20 series either side of the Champions Trophy last summer but I've never played county cricket before so I'm looking forward to my time at Worcestershire.

"My Auckland coach, Dipak Patel, who played for Worcestershire, told me that New Road is a wonderful place to play and that I will enjoy my time over there and learn a lot about my game."

Kenyan-born Patel played for Worcestershire from 1976 to 1986 and then emigrated to New Zealand for whom he made 37 Test and 75 ODI appearances, often opening the bowling with his off spin in limited overs cricket.

Munro is determined to help Worcestershire enjoy a successful time in the T20 Blast and improve on their previous best performance of quarter-final appearances in 2003, 2007 and 2012.

He said: "The reason I play cricket is to win trophies. It would be massive to help Worcestershire win the T20 Blast for the first time in their history and to take the opportunity to further develop my T20 game.

"Hopefully I can offer some value to the team and learn a lot from my Worcestershire team-mates in return.

"I'm a happy-go-lucky kind of guy that goes with the flow but on the field I'm very aggressive and want to win.

"I like to hit the ball hard and look for boundaries throughout my innings."