kevin sharp says worcestershire rapids all-rounder ross whiteley will have reaped the benefits from his winter of white ball cricket when he returns to first team action with worcestershire in the royal london one-day cup.
whiteley played in the bangladesh premier league in november-december and then the pakistan super league in february-march addition to the inaugural t10 competition in sharjah.
now he is back with the rapids for the opening one-day cup encounter with derbyshire falcons at New Road on saturday as they look to emulate last summer’s success when topping the north group.
head coach sharp believes the left-hander, who has shown himself to be one of the most destructive players around in the shorter formats of the game, will have learned from participating in such tournaments.
he said: “those sort of experiences can only have helped ross to develop as a player. absolutely so.
“he has been playing in some major tournaments in front of big crowds against and alongside some of the best white ball exponents in the world.
“he went to bangladesh and pakistan for the t20 competitions and that is only good development for him.
“hopefully it will stand him in good stead now he is back at worcestershire.
“ross is such a dangerous player when firing on all cylinders and to have him in the middle order for saturday is going to be exciting.
“he showed in the t20 how destructive he can be with six sixes against yorkshire and he got his rewards for that by being selected in tournaments around the world.
“it will be like having a new player and that always gives a lift. it was like with ben twohig making his debut in the championship. it always gives you a lift when a new player comes in.”
whiteley said: “the pakistan super league (with multan sultans) was a fantastic experience amongst some amazing players – kumar
sangakkara playing his last tournament, kevin pietersen, shane watson and lots of other top guys.
“being amongst those players was fantastic and i’ve learnt a hell of a lot.
“my team got off to a real flier and then hit a bump and fell away towards the end which was a bit of a shame.
“we played some really good cricket but were just on the wrong side of it (results).
“i played three matches. it was tough to get a game so i missed out on the first few and it is quite tough coming in when you’ve not really played much.
“if you are not playing, it is also hard to practice with the schedule we had. you are really trying just to do as much as you can to get yourself ready and up to the pace of the game.
“but i learnt a hell of a lot and moving forward hopefully i can put into practice what i’ve learned these last few months – in the pakistan super league and bangladesh premier league – with worcestershire.”
