George who? England send for Garton

ASHES call-up George Garton — or George Who as some may cruelly dub him — has only just returned from a monthlong holiday in Australia.

Garton, 20, heads back Down Under as cover for the injured Jake Ball after spending the entire month of October in Melbourne with his Australian partner Liz.

‘I was recovering from a long season and it was nice to spend some time taking my mind off things. She had been over here twice this year and so it was my turn to go over there,’ explains the Sussex fast bowler.

Garton (right) met his girlfriend — who is half- Norwegian — when she was travelling around Europe with her sister and has maintained a long-distance relationship over the past 12 months.

And even when off-duty, the left-armer was keen to keep ticking over, and give Australian batsmen a taste of the slingy speed that has so excited the England hierarchy since he made his first-class debut 18 months ago.

So when Sussex’s former Australian allrounder Tony Dodemaide offered him the chance to bowl at Victoria’s second string in the nets at the MCG last month, he jumped at it. ‘It was a great experience to get on Australian wickets for the first time and let the Aussies have it a bit,’ he said. ‘I managed to get it down there and let them sniff a few. ‘There’s no better feeling than hurling it down there as quick as you can and seeing the poles go everywhere, or making the batsmen feel uncomfortable.’

With just nine firstclass appearances and 23 wickets to his name, he is not yet England’s answer to Mitchell Starc. However, with an ability to hit the 90-mile-perhour mark, his presence in Townsville — scene of the final warm-up match versus a Cricket Australia XI — will provide England’s batsmen with practice against Starc’s angle of attack ahead of the first Test in Brisbane.

‘Luckily for me a leftarmer is a rare commodity, and I am just trying to exploit that really,’ he added.