Overseas Roundup

By Jon Steer
February 15 2005

With less than two months until the start of the season we look a little further afield at Durham's overseas signings of Ashley Noffke, Mike Hussey, Dale Benkenstein and Gareth Breese as their domestic seasons reach the final stages.

Durham captain Mike Hussey was celebrating a return to the Australian one day team after selection for the tour to New Zealand. The test squad is yet to be named but Hussey could well be in with a chance of replacing the out of form Lehmann there as well. While selection for the New Zealand tour will be great news for Hussey, he will know that a good performance could give him what every Australian cricketer is chasing - a place in the ashes squad. Fortunately for Durham the tour of New Zealand only runs until the end of March but with only two weeks between then and the opening championship game, its possible that we won't see the new captain in action right from the start. Of course should Hussey be included in the ashes squad we may not see very much of him at all...

Fellow Australian Ashley Noffke has been named in the Queensland Bulls twelve man squad for the ING Cup Final against the Tasmania Tigers on 20th February. The Bulls have been suffering with injuries to key players Martin Love and Shane Watson, neither of who will make the final. Despite heavy defeats to Victorian and New South Wales in their last two games, Queensland finished the group stage of the competition on 35 points ahead of Tasmania on 24 and Victoria on 23. Noffke has played in 9 of the 10 ING cup matches this season but taken just 9 wickets at an average of 43.

Moving on to South Africa, Dale Benkenstein is recovering from breaking his thumb at Newlands last month. He will miss the Nashua Dolphins Standard Bank Cup semi final this friday. He is hopeful of returning to action with the Dolphins next month. Benkenstein has been in the news this month as part of the row over the alleged quota system in South Africa and the loss of players overseas. Benkenstein had once been tipped as a future captain of South Africa but many see his decision to play county cricket as the end of his international career.

Gareth Breese is also on the road back from injury, he is recovering from a stress fracture of the groin. Breese has been training again recently and expects to be back in the Jamaica team before the end of the Carib Beer season. Jamaica currently lead the competition with five wins and a draw from the first six rounds. Breese has played just five one day and no first class matches this season.