At least one English cricketer has had a productive trip to Australia this winter - Ian Cockbain Jnr, son of the former Lancashire, Bootle and Formby mainstay, has helped smash the Adelaide Strikers into the play-offs of the T20 Big Bash League.
The Liverpool-born batter, who has played for Gloucestershire since 2010 and is the leading white ball run-scorer in the county’s history, was in the country to play league cricket when he received an unexpected call-up.
Cockbain, who impressed for the Welsh Fire during last year’s Hundred, slotted straight into the Strikers top order. In his franchise T20 debut, he guided the side home against Perth Scorchers with an unbeaten 35 from 24 balls; three days later, he made mincemeat of the Sydney Sixers attack, hitting four sixes and five fours in a match-winning 71* from 42 balls.
