Indian summer in England

But Virender Sehwag, Javagal Srinath, Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh are certain to make their trips. There is, however, a question mark over Yuvraj’s trip to Kent, but Paul E Millman, Chief Executive of Kent CC clarifies: ‘‘I can confirm that we have been talking to Yuvraj but have not concluded any deal with him. He has a busy schedule and we are looking at him here at Kent for the last half of the season. He is on our list of possibilities to fill the position.’’

The biggest Indian representation in the county circuit before this was in 1973, 19774, 1975 and in 2000. In the first instance, Dilip Doshi, Bishan Singh Bedi and Srinivas Venkataraghavan — all spinners — were the preferred ones. In 2000, we had Saurav Ganguly, Dravid and Anil Kumble going over. Incidentally, only 12 Indians till date have made it to the county circuit. Outside of the names just mentioned, there were Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Mohammad Azharuddin, Tendulkar and Dravid. A number of other Indians have been seen in the English counties, but not at the highest level.

Now, actually what this large Indian representation means? Undoubtedly, the ability of Indian cricketers. It also means that in off-season, the India internationals will get a chance to compete in what is widely regarded as the toughest domestic circuit in the world. They will be able to compete with and against some of the players they often confront against in international assignments. Apart from staying in touch with the game, they will also bring in a substantial amount of foreign exchange to the country.

For the 2003 summer season, the Indian foursome will be pitted against some major international names like Andy Flower of Ziimbabwe; Australians Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Stuart MacGill, Ian Harvey and Bradley Hogg; Shane Bond and Chris Cairns of New Zealand; Proteans Jonty Rhodes, Nantie Hayward, Andrew Hall and others; Pakistan’s Wasim Akram, Shahid Afridi, Saqlain Mushtaq and Abdur Razzaq; and the best that England has to offer.

But there is a flip side to it. The four — Sehwag (Leicestershire), Harbhajan (Lancashire), Srinath (Durham) and Yuvraj (Kent) — will play a total of 16 four-day matches in the Frizzell County Championships, 18 ODIs in the National Cricket League, six ODIs in the Twenty20 Championships, and a few more games against universities and visiting national sides. Leaving out the yet-to-be-enumerated matches, each of them will have 88 playing days in the next five months — till the end of September. A substantial figure by any yardstick!

Ergo, a chance for the cricketers to return from England rather jaded becomes likely. As former India captain Bedi says, ‘‘I won’t advocate Indian players who have reached a certain level in international cricket to play in English county. Of course, the money is good. But our cricketers are already playing too much cricket. They should be taking rest from the game whenever they get an opportunity.’’

A classic example of over-stress is that of Srinath. He played for Gloucestershire in the 1995-96 season and returned with a busted shoulder. He went to the Caribbean for a five-Test series in 1996-97 only to return midway through the tour in agony, and not play competitive cricket for over a year after.

Spinner Anil Kumble’s experience was quite similar. After his season with Northamptonshire in 1995, his shoulder problems started. It gradually aggravated down the years. Still, Kumble chose to make the trip again in the 2000 season, this time with Leicestershire, following which he has had to stay out of a number of tours over the past two seasons.

But former India opening bat and coach Anshuman Gaekwad thinks differently. The coach at the time of Srinath and Kumble’s injuries says, ‘‘I think it helps cricketers to stay in touch with some high-class cricket in the off-season. Otherwise, there’s a chance the players will lose their fitness and put on weight. Also, for players who are occasionally reckless like Sehwag and Yuvraj, it is going to be a good training, because the English counties teach professionalism. And because of the money they pay, you have to be accountable.’’

It is a known fact that the English counties pay handsomely. Wassan, playing for Durham Minor Counties, was paid 80,000 pounds for a season.

But they also squeeze out the very last of the resources you take with you. As Wassan says, ‘‘Since the counties are giving players loads of money, they expect a lot from the players. They just take every pound of flesh from you. That is their professionalism.’’

The times are changing for Indian cricket all right. Enough has been written about its different strengths and weaknesses. But the positive performance at the World Cup followed by the English call-up certainly augurs well for the future. The only bone of contention is whether the county sojourn will prove beneficial for the Indians or a bit too much, considering the demanding nature of county games.