Aussies in the UK: County review

As always, the English County Championship season was littered with Australian players. A dozen players across two divisions – including English passport holder Phil Jaques – plied their trade throughout the first-class campaign, with the likes of Chris Rogers, Steve Magoffin and Michael Hogan starring.

Here’s a rundown of how they fared:

County Championship Division One

John Hastings (Durham)
Victorian Hastings played eight matches for Durham throughout the 2014 season, capturing 37 wickets at 21.94 – second only to Chris Rushworth at the club. Grabbed one five-wicket haul among that but also chipped in with three half-centuries, averaged 25.92 and made a highest score of 83.

Chris Rogers (Middlesex)
The 36-year-old veteran again dominated the county circuit, compiling 1,333 runs at 55.54 to miss selection in the team of the year by a whisker. That runs tally included a pair of final-day double centuries – one to earn his side a win and another to stave off defeat – to suggest the left-hander is more than capable of performing at the highest level for another season yet.

Phil Jaques (Nottinghamshire)
Much like Rogers, left-handed opener Jaques has been doing the business on the county scene for more than a decade now – but shows few signs of letting up. His 894 runs came at 49.66 and included two centuries and six fifties. An English passport means Nottinghamshire enjoyed the added bonus of not having to use an ‘overseas player’ slot on the consistent 35-year-old.

Quick Single: Jaques winds back the clock

Peter Siddle (Nottinghamshire)
Australia Test paceman Peter Siddle was steady without being sensational throughout his 11 matches for Nottinghamshire alongside fellow Australian Jaques. Freshened after a gruelling summer, he headed to England to get back into some bowling, and took 37 wickets at 31.48 before being called back to the National Cricket Centre for some off-season strength and conditioning.

Steve Magoffin (Sussex)
Magoffin was brilliant throughout the 2014 county season, capturing 72 wickets at 19.51 in 15 matches to guide Sussex into third position on the division one table. Those figures included four five-wicket hauls and a match-best of 8-40 to catapult him into theBBC’s team of the season. 

Aaron Finch (Yorkshire)
It was a short but reasonably sweet stay for Aaron Finch in his first season of county cricket. Australia’s new Twenty20 captain headed to the UK to improve his red-ball cricket technique, and on initial evidence at least, it seemed to work; in five matches, he made 291 runs at 48.50 and posted just his third first-class hundred (he’s now played 44 matches).

Usman Khawaja (Lancashire)
It was a mixed seven-match stint for Khawaja at Lancashire. In a side that managed only three wins in 16 matches, Khawaja posted a century and three fifties to average 31.76. His 413 runs included a best of 117, as he largely failed to produce the sort of form that earned him Test selection.  

County Championship Division Two

Michael Hogan (Glamorgan)
Glamorgan’s county Player of the Year in 2013, another superb season from Hogan saw his inclusion in the BBC’s 2014 English county Team of the Year alongside fellow Aussie quick Magoffin. The 33-year-old snared 63 wickets at 19.55, took three five-wickets hauls and enjoyed best match figures of 10-125.

Michael Klinger (Gloucestershire)
It was a disappointing season for the veteran opening batsman, who this season moves on from South Australia and the Strikers to link up with the Warriors and Scorchers across the three Australian domestic formats. In 10 matches, Klinger managed only a moderate 490 runs at 28.82. That tally included two centuries, however he couldn’t lift Gloucestershire from third-bottom on the ladder.

Glenn Maxwell (Hampshire)
It was minimal involvement for Maxwell in the first-class competition this summer, in which he produced scores of 85 and 24 in the one-off long-form match he played. Otherwise, his theatrics were more evident throughout the one-day and T20 tournaments, including a ‘mystery shot’ he revealed to cricket.com.au that he unleashed against Lancashire.

Doug Bollinger (Kent)
A solid enough return for Bollinger during a maiden season with Kent, in which he played eight matches. Fresh from returning to Australia’s 20-over squad for the World T20 in March, Bollinger headed straight to the UK and proceeded to take 27 wickets at the healthy average of 26.40, yielding two five-wicket hauls in the process.

Marcus North (Derbyshire)
West Australian North had a forgettable five-game run at Derbyshire, particularly after a stunning run of form in last season’s Bupa Sheffield Shield earned him the top run-scorer and Player of the Year gongs. For Derbyshire, he managed just 148 runs in eight innings, averaging 18.50 and failing to reach 50.