SHEFFIELD SHIELD 2016-17

Hampshire's Mason Crane in New South Wales squad

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on

Crane has picked up 45 wickets from just 11 games including three consecutive seven-wicket hauls in Sydney grade cricket. © Getty

Hampshire's leg-spinner Mason Crane has been named in New South Wales' squad for their Sheffield Shield match against South Australia which begins at the Sydney Cricket Ground tomorrow (March 7).

Crane, 20, has been playing grade cricket in Sydney for Gordon Cricket Club over the English winter and has picked up 45 wickets from just 11 games including three consecutive seven-wicket hauls. With Steven O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon both on Test duty in India, Crane's form has seen him force his way in to the NSW squad. Should he be picked to play, Crane would become the first overseas player to represent the state since Pakistani all-rounder Imran Khan in 1984-85.

It is also a boost for Crane's England ambitions particularly as an away Ashes series looms large at the end of the year. After improved but still inconsistent performances from Adil Rashid in the Test series defeat to India last year, England are still searching for the successor to their last Test-class spinner Graeme Swann, who retired in 2013. The experience of Australian first-class cricket will do Crane's chances no harm at all.

As part of the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) desire to produce better spin bowlers and get them more overs, the ECB's Lead Spin Coach Peter Such helped organise Crane's stint at Gordon and similar assistance has been given to other young English spinners over the past two years, including Somerset's left-armer Jack Leach. Crane has had some sessions with former Australian Test leg-spinner Stuart MacGill and has also been training with the NSW squad.

As to Crane's England ambitions, much, of course, depends on how he fares this summer for Hampshire. Leg-spin is a notoriously hard task to master and most mature in their late 20s which suggests Crane has plenty of learning left to do. Expectation should therefore be tempered. Last season, he took 31 wickets at an average of 45.45, failing to take a five wicket haul, a record which he will hope to vastly improve this season.

Should he have a good year in first-class cricket for Hampshire, though, Crane may find himself heading back to Australia again next winter, but this time with England.

© Cricbuzz

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