Gloucestershire batsman Ian Cockbain is hoping his stellar performances in Australia’s Big Bash League will open more doors to the potentially lucrative world of franchise cricket.
The 34-year old - the county’s highest-ever T20 run scorer - made the most of a last-minute call-up by the Adelaide Strikers as he finished with 239 runs in six innings as they went close to reaching the final.
Cockbain was playing club cricket before a meet-up with former county colleague Dan Worrall saw him suddenly propelled into the Big Bash - and he took the chance with both hands.
“I was playing club cricket for Langwarrin on the Mornington Peninsula on matting wickets,” Cockbain explained. “The club was brilliant - they had eight senior teams and 16 junior sides, and 80-odd people turning up for training every week. It was an enormous set-up.
“Playing on synthetic wickets gets a bad rap but it was a decent standard.”
However, Cockbain was always holding out hope of a last-minute BBL chance - with Cockbain’s agent busy on the phone, hopeful that an opening may arise.
“He was ringing round, seeing if anyone needed an overseas replacement,” said Cockbain. “Covid was knocking a few out in a few sides but it all happened out of the blue.
“I was in Adelaide - my wife is from there - and I was with Dan Worrall who was playing for the Strikers when one of the batters went down and I got the call.
“Strangely it was on the same day that I got the call from the Karachi Kings asking me to come to the PSL.
“I thought that would work well as at the time the Strikers were bottom of the table and it didn’t look like they would make the finals, so there wouldn’t be an overlap.”
But they did, thanks to a winning streak, aided by Cockbain’s run of scores - 35*, 17, 71*, 3, 65 and 48 - which took them to within a ball of the final, before they were agonisingly denied by the Sydney Sixers.
“We just got on a roll,” said Cockbain. “It was great to get a few runs but it delayed my arrival in Pakistan.”
Cockbain flew into Karachi on Saturday, and after two days in isolation in his hotel is in contention to face Peshawar Zalmi on Friday.
And the Kings might need him to reproduce that BBL form - they have lost their opening three games, to the Lahore Qalanders, Quetta Gladiators - for whom new Gloucestershire signing Naseem Shah took five wickets - and Multan Sultans.
“They got me an exercise bike and some weights so I have been using them in the room,” said Cockbain. “I am looking forward to playing. I am expecting the pitches to be slower than Australia, with not as much bounce and more helpful for spin.
“So it will be all about how I can adapt to that. I have been watching the games and hopefully I can help the team.
“The BBL was a free hit for me. There was a bit of adapting to the speed and some bowlers I haven’t faced before but it didn’t take too long to slip back into it.”
Such was his impact that conversations have already started about another BBL gig for Cockbain in 2023.
“I would love to go back,” he said. “There is talk that the BBL may go to a draft system next year but I’d like to think I have done enough to get another go.”
So it is evident that the BBL and PSL adventures have definitely fuelled Cockbain’s fire for more opportunities on the franchise circuit.
“That’s the goal,” said Cockbain. “I have had my name in the hat for a while and nothing has ever come up.
“(Gloucestershire all-rounder) Benny Howell and I have both been looking to get involved. He has had a bit more success than me but hopefully the BBL performances will open the door.
“I think a lot of people involved look at the fact that I have not played international cricket, but I think my record stacks up well.
I have played more than 100 T20 games and have a 10-year career. I just needed the chance and I am backing myself to the hilt.
“I’d love to play in the IPL. I am 34 now, 35 in a couple of weeks, so I don’t have long left and I want to play as much franchise cricket as I can.”
But those ambitions do not mean playing for Gloucestershire is on the back burner - far from it.
“I am really excited for the future with Gloucestershire,” he said. “Naseem Shah looks a great addition after I saw him in the PSL and also Marcus Harris.
“I haven’t worked with Dale Benkenstein (new head coach) before and he has a lot of experience and I am excited about what I can learn from him.”
Cockbain is set to return to Bristol in late February before the county’s pre-season training camp in Dubai - and hopes to persuade Benkenstein that he is a not just a one-day specialist.
“It has been a huge frustration for me that I haven’t played more four-day cricket,” he said. “I was hoping to get a bit more of a run last season. I played a few games and thought I had done well but that has been the story of my four-day career - play a couple, then get left out.
“But there is huge competition for places and it is my belief that good competition makes for a better team, so it will be up to Dale to see how he manages that.
“I haven’t spoken to him yet. He starts in mid-February so I am looking forward to getting back to Bristol and getting to work.”
