INDIAN Test star Wasim Jaffer looks set to return to the Drakes Huddersfield Cricket League this season.
The former Indian Test opener is expected to complete a deal that will see him playing for Skelmanthorpe this summer.
Jaffer was such a massive influence when he played two separate spells with Scholes, during which time he set a new all-time season’s best batting average of 121.79 in 2005.
And although there are still some details to sort out, Jaffer looks all set to begin his third spell in the Drakes League, this time at Lidgett Lane.
Skelmanthorpe chairman Margaret Dollive said: “Subject to authorisation of the appropriate paperwork, Skelmanthorpe Cricket Club hope that Wasim Jaffer will be the club’s overseas player for the 2010 season.”
Undoubtedly, Jaffer – who scored 1,944 runs in 31 Tests between 2000 and 2008 – is one of the best players ever to grace the Huddersfield League and there will be plenty of excitement around the League, and even further afield, if Skelmanthorpe’s plans are successful.
Jaffer first joined Scholes in 1999, scoring 1,384 runs, but it was in the next two seasons that he really made his mark averaging exactly 100.00 in the following year after making 1,400 runs and helping the Chapelgate club win the Drakes League Championship.
And the Mumbai-born opener repeated the dose in 2001, when Scholes retained the Byrom Shield, scoring another 1,359 runs (ave 97.01).
Not surprisingly, Jaffer’s consistent form led to him getting a central contact back home and for a spell he became a regular opening partner for Virender Sehwag in the Indian Test side, not returning to the UK for three seasons.
But in 2004 he was back with a bang when he notched 1,203 runs to finish top of the averages again and then in 2005 he rattled up a massive 1,705 runs with seven centuries for his record-breaking average – and that was despite missing three games because of commitments back home and a further four matches which were washed out!
Not surprisingly, it was enough to see the popular Indian star named as the Drakes League’s non-EU player of the year as Scholes finished runners-up to Honley in the League that year.
One statistic that Jaffer will no doubt be looking to improve on is his record in the Sykes Cup.
He has played in two finals with Scholes, scoring immaculate centuries in both of them – but still finished on the losing side, against Slaithwaite in 1999 and against Kirkburton in 2000.
Should Jaffer, who in has skippered Mumbai to their 38th and 39th Ranji titles and most recently led West Zone to the Duleep Trophy earlier this year, line up for Skelmanthorpe’s League opener, at home to Honley on April 17, it will signal a very different looking Lidgett Lane team, with young wicketkeeper Josh Clarkson coming in for Max Joice, who (ironically) is heading for Honley, and all-rounder Scott Dyson, who has taken over as captain at Shelley.
