Porter aims to be England recruit
IT HAS been some journey for Jamie Porter, from an office job in recruitment to County Championship winner in the space of three and a half years.
But the 24-year-old bowler from Leytonstone is hoping the progress does not stop in Chelmsford, admitting he is now keeping his fingers crossed for a call-up from England this winter.
For all that experienced team-mates like James Foster suggest he could even be discussed by selectors as a possible Ashes wild card, Porter is more realistic.
“Personally, I don’t think I will be on the Ashes tour but hopefully I will be on the Lions,” said Porter. “For people to even be talking about it is a big honour.”
Porter is the leading wickettaker in the County Championship’s top flight this term with 64 victims and is being talked about a lot.
His skills with the ball are only part of the story, though. The rest is of perseverance, self-belief and a decision taken early in 2014 that could have been the best of his life. After REPORTS time in Middlesex’s youth system and MCC Young Cricketers, Porter was turning out for Chingford CC in the summer and playing football in the winter.
He had pretty much given up on making the grade and started work with a recruitment consultancy in 2014.
“I was selling, which is the only thing I could turn my hand to given I am not shy of a few words,” he said.
“And I was actually quite successful at it. But the truth was I had pretty much turned my back on the game. I felt I had done all right for a few years and not quite got the opportunities I deserved. There was a bit of exhaustion. I had to do something to make money as I had no other source. “The turning point for me was when it got to March and a lot of my mates were on pre-season with their clubs and I was seeing all the pictures on Facebook and Twitter. “I was sat there and it kind of dawned on me that this was me for the next 20 years... sat in an office. I was playing club cricket and I was playing football in the winter which was fun but I missed it. “I was fortunate enough that by doing that it saved me up enough money that when Essex came along I was able to fund myself through a couple of months with them, giving it one last go.” One second XI game later he had a contract offer and from there he grabbed his chance, taking 50 wickets in each of their second division seasons in 2015 and 2016 and this year backing it up in the top flight.
His wickets are achieved not with express pace but nagging angles and shape. “I am a nipper not a swinger,” he said.
He received a Lions call-up in June and responded with 3-58 against South Africa A on debut.
But a trip with the Lions this winter, which is being designed to stay close to the full squad, would allow him to see up close the work of Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and others.
Essex wicketkeeper Foster is in no doubt that such exposure could bring Porter on again. “On form you could argue he could be with the full team but there are obviously quite a few good bowlers in the queue with the likes of Chris Woakes and Toby RolandJones,” said Foster.
“But with the way the Lions dovetail the tour, just being around that environment, the knowledge he could pick up could be priceless.”
Porter has had two winters of club cricket in Australia in Adelaide and Melbourne, playing with and against some star names.
They may not remember him from the days when he was a promising recruitment consultant. This time around they might. WEST INDIES skipper Carlos Brathwaite has served up a warning to England and their supporters – if you think Chris Gayle hits it hard wait till you see Evin Lewis.
The tourists will tackle England in a T20 international at the Riverside this evening and are ready to unleash the most explosive opening partnership in world cricket. And while England know all about Gayle, it is the 25-year-old Trinidadian who Brathwaite believes will be the one to watch.
“In the Caribbean Premier League it was breathtaking stuff from Evin Lewis. If you get Chris Gayle playing second fiddle to him then you know what kind of character he is,” said Brathwaite.
“When he gets going, no boundaries in the world are big enough for him.”
Since making his debut in T20s in March 2016, Lewis has smashed two centuries, the last an unbeaten 125 against India in Kingston that came from just 62 balls.
At 37, Gayle is reaching the twilight of his career. Brathwaite said: “He’s probably not the swashbuckling Chris Gayle that gets 175 off 80 balls.
“But his experience has been showing. Whichever Chris Gayle turns up is one the West Indies is proud and lucky to have.”
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