Zimbabweborn Kiwi’s value is immense

There is no better sight in cricket than watching a big man take the long handle to the ball, powerfully blasting it back past the bowler. Well, that might not be true.

There is something about watching a big man jog in and hoop an in-swinging yorker through the defences that gets your blood pumping.

If the same big man can do both things, they’re truly exceptional.

Colin de Grandhomme is one of the few players in world cricket who can deliver with both bat and ball, and at increasingly regular intervals.

During the summer of 2017-18, de Grandhomme has taken his game to the next level, scoring important runs with the bat while providing his testing, probing swing with the ball.

It feels as if the big Zimbabwean Kiwi has only just realised that he belongs at international level, and that has seen him take to international attacks.

His 105 against the West Indies in Wellington was an extraordinary display of timing and power. He followed that with 58 in his next innings, again showing his brute force against the poor West Indian side.

Then Pakistan arrived, and after an absence to mourn the death of his father, he did it again with a brutal, match-winning 74 not out in Hamilton.

Opening batsmen in Twenty20 are everywhere. Colin Munro is one of the more effective hitters up the top, and deserves to be paid for it.

But de Grandhomme provides hitting when the field has retreated to the rope. On Indian grounds, he has the power to clear the fence, if not the roof, of your local stadium. Then there is his work with the ball. While he’s not quick, de Grandhomme is something of a golden arm. Think, when even Trent Boult and Tim Southee were unable to swing the Kookaburra ball, de Grandhomme waltzed in and had it hooping this summer.

In India, he provides a point of difference. Spin is king in Twenty20 bowling, but pacemen who succeed boast their fair share of guile and variation.

That’s where de Grandhomme comes in, offering that point of difference a bowling attack needs, all while remaining economical.

Both Colin’s deserve big money, but with de Grandhomme’s role – big hitter later on and valuable seam option – he should get a larger slice of the cake.