Plunkett ready to cement his legacy
For a bowler capable of hurrying up the best of batsman Liam Plunkett has taken a surprisingly slow journey to feeling part of the England set-up. Now, after establishing himself in Eoin Morgan’s one-day side, he’s in a rush to ensure that has career is defined by what happens next rather than what has gone before.
Plunkett was just 20 when he made his international oneday debut against Pakistan in Lahore as far back as December 2005. England were still basking in the glow of a famous Ashes triumph and the then Durham tyro looked like the man most likely to replace the injured Simon Jones in a fab four bowling attack comprising Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff.
Instead, Plunkett has spent the best part of a decade wondering what might have been.
Despite the setbacks that have blighted his career, Plunkett boarded the plane for India in fine fettle after limbering up in unconventional style for perhaps one-day cricket’s toughest tour.
“I’ve been in the US over Christmas and the New Year,” he says. “I’ve backwards and forwards there for the past nine years. I just find a space in Philadelphia and bowl on my own. There’s no-one else around but it’s just to keep me ticking over really. I’ve done it for so long I guess it sort of feels normal now.”
It’s a long-distance relationship that sees Plunkett ratcheting up the air miles on a regular basis. His journey back to England’s heart has been equally lengthy.
Back in the winter of 2006/07 Plunkett appeared to have the world at his feet.
A