Twenty20 / Editor / 07 May 2007 /

Although there has been a move towards getting more youngsters into English county cricket, there are still plenty of 'old stagers' making big waves in the game, providing their teams with valuable runs and wickets that could make the difference in title and promotion races at the end of the season.

The move towards extending domestic careers really started with a couple of influential former internationals who, for all money, looked like they were going to call it quits over recent seasons but still continue to put their pads on and turn their arms over.

One of the biggest stories of the domestic off-season was the decision of dance-king Darren Gough to return to Yorkshire after a couple of seasons with Essex, and that move could well prove the difference between success and failure in a very tricky County Championship Division One.

His decision brought not only the wickets (he is closing on 1,500 domestically) but also ensured that key all-rounder Anthony McGrath would not leave after an excellent season, in which he scored 1,293 championship runs at 61.57 and took 18 vital wickets.

With those two both in tow, Younis Khan making an immediate impact as their number one overseas player and Gough helping the likes of Tim Bresnan, Adil Rashid and Mark Lawson progress with their bowling, the White Rose county become a major player in all competitions. Don't rule Gough out from making a late run at international cricket as well, with his experience possibly coming in handy for the World Twenty20 Championship in South Africa later this year.

The main news from England's Ashes tour was Shane Warne's decision to quit international cricket at the end of the Australian summer, a decision that allowed him to continue playing for adopted county Hampshire for a full season (and possibly into 2008).

The world's greatest leg-spinner, Warne will captain the Hawks this season and expect him to continue the success he has always enjoyed. Although Hampshire do not perhaps have the depth of the likes of Yorkshire, Warne can win matches on his own and with the likes of Australia team-mate Stuart Clark alongside him, they should be a danger to all.

Clark admitted he would have most likely taken the summer off had Warne not asked him to come over and play for the Rose Bowl side, and the pair should take a mountain of wickets, with another veteran John Crawley being relied on to anchor a young batting line-up to provide the bowlers with decent targets to aim at.

Another player being relied upon for his experience, although more likely in a Division One relegation battle, is Worcestershire batsman Graeme Hick, who still going strong at the ripe old age of 40 (turns 41 on May 23).

Hick continues to defy predictions of his retirement from the game and should this season crack the amazing record of 40,000 first class runs - based on the innings he has built early in the campaign, that landmark should come very soon.

Hick has amassed an amazing 132 first class centuries and is a master at patiently compiling runs without ever looking flustered - it is such a shame for his adopted country England that he could only ever manage a batting average of 31.32 in Test matches, paling into insignificance against a 52.64 first-class average.

But unlike Gough at Yorkshire, Hick looks to be fighting a tough battle at New Road with a squad that appears unlikely to have the depth to compete at the top - their recent innings defeat by local rivals Warwickshire showed just how poor their bowling attack could be this season now lacking Zaheer Khan, who was so influential in their promotion from Division Two last autumn.

Warwickshire themselves have two members of the old guard who could prove vital performers this summer in all forms of the game in Heath Streak and Darren Maddy.

Streak gives them a solid look to their batting line-up by coming in as low as eight, and should be one of the more reliable second change bowlers available to any county - expect him to take plenty of wickets after South African Dale Steyn and young duo Naqqash Tahir and James Anyon have softened up opponents.

Maddy, who turns 33 on the same day as Hick is 41, should be one of their key men in one-day cricket, where he enjoyed such success with home county Leicestershire. Maddy took over the captaincy at Edgbaston after Streak decided it was too much for him and should be to the fore when the Twenty20 season starts in June.

Maddy was the leading light in the Foxes win in that sphere last season, gaining the man-of-the-match award for his unbeaten 86 in the final against Nottinghamshire and grabbing the wicket of pinch-hitter Graeme Swann. He also became, in 2006, the first batsman to break through the 1,000 run mark in Twenty20 cricket's fledgling history.

When you add in Sri Lanka wicket-keeper Kumar Sangakkara, one of the world's best one-day operators, to their squad later in the summer, Warwickshire should contend for some kind of limited-overs silverware this season.

But they can expect further strong challenges from Sussex, who have a veteran of their own anchoring an exciting bowling attack in Mushtaq Ahmed.

The leg-spinner has been a part of the English cricket scene for a decade with Somerset and now the reigning county champions, and he has had success in just about every season because of his ability to turn the ball when other spinners seem unable to. When the Hove-based side are also able to count on Saqlain Mushtaq later this month on the arrival of his British passport, the duo should win games for them on their own.

There is one final veteran batsman who could have a lot to say in the race to claim promotion from Division Two, namely Somerset opener Justin Langer.

Like Hampshire, the Sabres have benefited from a player's decision to quit international cricket, and having Langer available for the whole summer should ensure them being competitive in all forms of the game. The 36-year-old has already scored 758 runs (up to and including Sunday) and could approach 3,000 by the end of the season if he stays fit, especially given the placid pitch conditions in Taunton.

But for Somerset to enjoy success, and not just score more runs than any other team in claiming draw after draw, they will need 36-year-old Andrew Caddick and Charl Willoughby, 32 himself, to start picking up more wickets than they have so far.

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