PLUNKETT: I’VE STILL GOT IT!
Paceman gunning for IPL super deal...
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LIAMPlunkett is hoping to give himself a shot of playing in the Indian Premier League by shining for his country in perhaps the toughest one-day assignment in world cricket.
The Yorkshire quick last played a Test match back in 2014 but has been a key member of Eoin Morgan’s one-day side as England have hauled themselves off the floor following their disastrous World Cup campaign in New Zealand and Australia.
Since being recalled to the team against the Kiwis in June 2015, Plunkett has taken 21 wickets, including ten in the series against Sri Lanka at the start of last summer.
After an 11-year international career that has seen him in and out of the England side across all formats, Plunkett is enjoying a consistent run in a one-day outfit that has exceeded all expectations in the past 12 months.
A tour to India obviously represents a further step-up for Plunkett but he’s confident that he can use the series as a platform to broaden his T20I experience – and enable him to follow the likes of Sam Billings and Chris Jordan into the Big Bash and IPL.
“At this stage I want to keep learning and experiencing as much as I can,” says Plunkett. “These are the best competitions in the world.
“There was some talk of the Big Bash and the (Hobart) Hurricanes one might have been an option but obviously I wanted to make myself available for the whole of the India series.
“If you go over there and all of a sudden bowl a great over at the death or you clean up someone like Kohli or hit a six off the final ball and smash 20 off an over you just don’t know what might happen.There might be someone watching who turns around and says, ‘yep, we’ll be pay for this from him’.”
Plunkett has had precious few batting opportunities in recent matches having only made it to the middle twice in the past ten matches as England’s top order have routinely blitzed their way to scores in excess of 300.
But while his chances with the bat have been limited, with ball in hand, Plunkett has shown the kind of consistency that has finally established him in the England side.
“I feel like I deserve to be playing, I feel as though I’m a major part of that squad and that’s quite a nice feeling,” he says.“I’d be lying to you if I told you that I wish I hadn’t played consistent cricket for the last ten years like Stuart Broad or Jimmy Anderson.
“I think I’ve bowled quicker in the last two years than I did at the start of my career. I probably swung the ball a little bit more back in the day but with not as much control.
“I feel I’m more skilful as a bowler and I think a lot of that is about being more relaxed, not worrying about my game.When I got back to playing for England a few years ago I just felt like I had nothing to lose.
“I was the leading taker with the white ball last summer, which was good and I think I might have been the summer before, too. It’s from the World Cup that I’ve really been a regular in the side and I think I’ve really shown what I can bring to this team.”
Plunkett has been in and around the England side for so long that it’s easy to forget he’s still only 31. That said, such is the youthful verve of this one-day outfit that he still very much qualifies as one of its elder statesmen alongside skipper Morgan, the only other player in the touring party over the age of 30.
Of the England ODI side in which Plunkett made his debut in Lahore in December 2005, only Anderson, Paul Collingwood, Marcus Trescothick and Kevin Pietersen are still playing cricket competitively. Anderson alone is still playing at the very highest level internationally.
Plunkett took 3-51 in that match, a performance which gave ample notice of his talents. Since then, however, he has often cut a frustrated figure for his country, with successive England regimes apparently unsure as to whether he belongs at the top or not.
Trevor Bayliss, though, has clearly seen enough of Plunkett in the one-day arena to be convinced that he has a part to play in England’s present and future success.
“In the last two years I’ve probably been in better shape than I’ve ever been in,” says Plunkett. “I’m very careful with what I eat and I’m keeping myself fitter than ever. Mitchell Johnson was still bowling 95mph when he was 34 so I don’t really feel like the clock is ticking.”
Time, it seems, could still be on Plunkett’s side.