'Liam Plunkett's qualities and experience could be extremely valuable to us' - USA Cricket

One of the bedrocks of English white-ball fast bowling set-up Liam Plunkett has found himself at crossroads in the past few months. Just six months ago, the fast bowler was basking in glory along with his much-celebrated teammates after having played a substantial part in his side finally winning the World Cup. He had taken three crucial wickets to pave way for an eventual English win.

But, cricket, like life is unpredictable. Plunkett was soon cut-off from the English white-ball set-up; he wasn’t selected for the winter white-ball tours of New Zealand and South Africa, nor was he given a central contract by the ECB. As far as his International future is concerned, there were reports in the media in the past few days that Plunkett could finish his career with the USA after he becomes eligible to play.

According to the rules of the ICC, a player can only make a switch from playing for a full-membered nation to representing an Associate nation after a three-year absence from his former team. And, now the United States of America Cricket Association has confirmed that it is “open to continuing exploring” a future with the English seamer.

Plunkett’s wife is American and technically, the seamer can qualify to play for the USA as early as 2022 provided he stays in the country for more than 181 days per year for the next three calendar years in succession, post which he will be eligible for a US passport.

“Liam Plunkett has an American wife and may have aspirations to move to the USA in the long-term,” the spokesperson told wisden.com.

“USA Cricket discussed various opportunities as to how he could get involved in the development of cricket in the USA if and when the time is right for him in the future.

Clearly, if we were able to involve somebody of Liam’s qualities and experience within the USA cricketing landscape, we are sure he could be extremely valuable to USA Cricket and what we are trying to achieve, and it is, therefore, something that we are open to continuing exploring with him,” he added.

Liam Plunkett’s current focus is to return in England’s World Cup T20 side

That said, Liam Plunkett is fully focused on making a comeback for the English team for the upcoming T20 World Cups in 2020n and 2021.

“I am fully committed to making a comeback to the England squad in my bid to play the T20 WC later this year and that is my priority currently,” Plunkett was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Plunkett currently has a contract with Surrey which runs until the end of the 2021 season. “I have a contract with Surrey until the end of the 2021 season and if I feel confident about maintaining a level of form and fitness befitting that of a professional cricketer then I would certainly like to carry on playing County cricket beyond 2021 as well,” he added.

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