First up, I’m not at all surprised to see someone move for Alviro Petersen. He is a decent batsman and has been doing well in South Africa as skipper. Yet to offer someone with limited experience of English conditions the county captaincy is a very bold move. It replicates what we did with Eddie Barlow, although Eddie was a better player with a bigger reputation. I thought we might see him in county cricket as a Kolpak, but his Test selection against Pakistan in Dubai suggests that he is still seen as an international player.
The fall out, however, could be substantial. It would appear that Matt Maynard as coach wanted Mark Cosgrove back, while skipper Jamie Dalrymple may seek a move to another county as a result of being deposed. See:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sports/cricket-news/2010/11/16/glamorgan-sack-jamie-dalrymple-as-captain-and-appoint-alviro-petersen-91466-27664780/
I’m not sure how much of this is press talk and how much is based on fact. Yorkshire and Derbyshire now chasing Cosgrove? I think he’s a good player and scores a lot of runs, but if we were thinking of appointing an overseas captain, which must be an option, I don’t see Cosgrove in such a role. Maybe we’d give that to Greg Smith, or maybe we just see this as a load of tosh…
While it is not written in tablets of stone and cannot be deemed irreversible, cash-strapped Yorkshire reckoned that they had spent their overseas money on Ryan Sidebottom and that their young batsmen such as Joe Root and Gary Ballance would compete for Jacques Rudolph’s position in the side.
IF there is anything in it, for what its worth, I think that Cosgrove would score a bucketful of runs for whatever county he plays for. I’ve no more idea about John Morris’ plans than the rest of you, but I’d have thought that Cosgrove’s record for Glamorgan would earn him greater interest from elsewhere than being a second overseas player.
He has carried his form for the Welsh side into Australian domestic cricket this winter and while jibes about his size are easy, they will be irrelevant if he continues to score heavily. Just as former German goal machine Gerd Muller was deemed selfish if he shot and missed, but a great talent when he more frequently scored, such is the case for Cosgrove.
While the perception of the modern sportsman is of a whippet-thin, perfect physical specimen, one has to consider that the less obviously natural athlete Cosgrove misses very little cricket through injury. He also scores enough runs, like Milburn, Inzamam, Lehmann and many others before him, for it not to be an issue.
1200 Championship runs at 50, 400 one-day runs at 50 and 560 T20 runs at 35 last season carries more weight than the player. Given his availability for the full season I don’t think he will lack for suitors.
Whether one of them is Derbyshire we’ll have to wait and see.
