PLAYING cricket in Australia wasn’t initially on the radar for Coomealla Wentworth import Musa Ilyas.
The 22-year-old Englishman was set to spend time in Pakistan during the off-season before the opportunity appeared to play in Sunraysia.
It’s a decision he’s glad he’s made.
The all-rounder is captain for Hitchin in Hertfordshire league, about 60km outside of London, and has played Minor Counties Cricket Championship for the past five or six years.
The right-hand batter has looked solid in his first two innings for the Blues, which included 36 from 50 on debut in their recent win over Mildura West.
The off-spinner has also taken two wickets against both West and Gol Gol.
“Honestly I was more planning to head to Pakistan and spend a few months there, but this probably turned out to be the better option and I’m not sure if I would get another opportunity to have that experience,” Ilyas said.
“I’m really enjoying it, it’s a good standard of cricket.
“Through playing in the Minor Counties competition I met a couple of agents who help send people to Australian and New Zealand during the the winter and they hooked me up with the opportunity.
“I’m still acclimatising to the heat but enjoying it.”
Describing himself as an aggressive and free-flowing batsman, Ilyas has already seen enough in his adopted team to know they can make an impact if they finish in the top four.
Coomealla Wentworth are currently sixth with a 2-4 record, but boast an important win over Mildura West, while their strong total of 9/262 was chased down by an on fire Gol Gol outfit last week.
It sets up a massive clash with Nichols Point over the next two weeks .
“Now that I’ve played with a lot of the lads, I think it’s a really strong team with a lot of variety in both the bowling and the batting, we have some real depth,” Ilyas said.
“I think from the West game on a pretty good batting pitch and we bowled pretty well, I think we have the ability to win and hopefully head into the finals.
“Hopefully we can get into the finals and play to the best of our ability.”
