Red-ball cricket to start season has definitely put a smile on my face, says Azad
LEICESTERSHIRE’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR IS ALSO EXCITED ABOUT COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP FORMAT
LEICESTERSHIRE County Cricket Club will start their trun- cated season playing red-ball cricket - and no-one at the Fischer County Ground is happier about that than Hassan Azad.
While County were among several “smaller” counties from a purely financial point of view would have preferred to play two one-day competitions, the consensus, confirmed earlier this week, was that a red-ball championship should go ahead.
That may be good news for Azad, the left-handed opener who was Leicestershire’s player of the year last season, scoring 1,189 championship runs at an average of just over 54. Only Surrey’s Dominic Sibley (1,324) scored more.
However, Azad has yet to break into Leicestershire’s T20 side and admits he was concerned about the amount of cricket he might play in 2020.
“I definitely had a smile on my face when I heard the news,” said the 26-year-old.
“I’m hopeful I would have played 50-over one-day cricket if that had been decided on, if only because there may be issues regarding guys travelling from overseas, but to start against the red ball will be even better.” With the championship format expected to see Leicestershire play five matches against counties in a “northern” group also including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire and Durham, Azad could find himself facing some of the best bowlers in county cricket.
“If that’s what transpires it’s going to be a real test, like playing in Division One, and with not many chances to do well,” said Azad, who last year played 26 innings in 14 matches.
This year it will be a maximum of ten in five.
Where the matches will be played has yet to be confirmed, but it could mean a first appearance for Azad at Emirates Old Trafford, not to mention a return to Trent Bridge after Nottinghamshire released him as a 20-year-old.
It was not so much Azad’s batting which caused Foxes head coach Paul Nixon, pictured, to leave him out of his T20 squad as a lack of athleticism in the field. While this could in part be explained by last season being Azad’s first as a full-time athlete after completing a Master’s degree in chemical engineering at Loughborough University – he graduated with first-class honours last summer – he acknowledges technique was also a factor.
“I don’t think people questioned that my batting could be adapted to one-day cricket – technique is just as important against the white ball, and I averaged over 100 for Loughborough MCCU – but I did need to work on basic things like sprinting style and fielding,” he said. “As part of my fitness work I’ve been doing a lot of fast running over short distances, as well as gym work, and hopefully have started to improve in that area.” Overall, however, Azad is simply pleased at the prospect of playing any cricket at all.
“Of course there have been frustrations, but I think the last few months has been a reminder how privileged we are to be playing sport for a living, and how it has to be kept in perspective when doctors and nurses and NHS staff have been risking their lives for us every day, and continue to do so,” he said. “As players we’ve had a lot of virtual ‘meetings’ and that’s been one of the themes, how lucky we are and how we need to make the most of that good fortune and enjoy every moment of what we do. “We’ll all be back together training as a group next week: it will be a good moment, but one that will be kept very much in perspective.”
I don’t think people questioned my batting could be adapted to one-day cricket
Hassan Azad, above