Play cricket in England or India - you choose

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

England for education, India for impact. According to Shaun Pollock, that is the choice facing cricketers good enough to land deals with counties or Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises.

A dozen of SA’s top players have signed up for IPL sides this year. Of those, JP Duminy and David Miller, who have each scored two half-centuries in three innings, were flying the flag highest by featuring among the top four run-scorers in the tournament going into yesterday’s match.

Five prominent SA players are on the county books in England, where the first-class championship has started. Ashwell Prince scored a century in his first match for Lancashire, Graeme Smith made a half-century for Surrey and Kyle Abbott has taken 11 wickets in two games for Hampshire.

Alviro Petersen has scored 58 runs in three innings for Somerset, where he has batted at No. 3 and 4 instead of the opening berth he fills in SA. Jacques Rudolph has nine runs to show for his efforts after two innings for Glamorgan.

Pollock has first-hand knowledge of both county cricket and the IPL. He played for Warwickshire from 1996 to 2002 and for the Mumbai Indians in the inaugural IPL in 2008. He then served as Mumbai’s bowling coach in 2009 and as their coach in 2011 and 2012.

“County cricket is very good from a learning perspective,” Pollock said yesterday. “If someone wants to learn about playing in different conditions, country cricket is the place to do so.

“It’s tough - the counties get their money’s worth, especially from the overseas pros.

“But, as a bowler, you come across green seaming wickets early in the season and they get dry towards the end of the season. As a batsman, you learn to deal with those conditions.

“You also learn about taking responsibility and about different team dynamics.

“Even as an older player you can go and hone your skills by playing county cricket, but it is especially good for younger players.”

So, which would be the more valuable experience for players whose major commitments are to teams in their home countries?

“From a SA perspective, you would prefer your players to play in the IPL because it’s not too taxing on the body,” Pollock said. “But, particularly as an established player, you want to be where the best players are.”

Not to mention where the money is. David Miller and Dale Steyn are on top of the SA salary pile in the IPL pile with more than R22-million each, while of the 12 only Marchant de Lange will make less than a R1-million - and his more than R520 000 for six-and-a-half weeks’ work is not to be sneezed at.

By contrast, leading overseas professionals in county cricket can expect to be paid around R2-million for a season - or part thereof - that lasts for a week short of six months.