Colin Munro is determined to have a season to remember with the bat for Worcestershire Rapids after admitting to being unhappy with his form when previously playing in England.
Worcestershire’s Vitality Blast overseas player has certainly made an impressive start to his third spell at New Road.
He has scored 145 runs in three knocks thanks to scores of 63 versus Notts Outlaws, 53 against Lancashire Lightning and 26 at Durham on Wednesday evening.
The New Zealander will be looking to continue that form in Friday afternoon’s derby encounter with Birmingham Bears at New Road (2.30pm start).
He was Worcestershire’s second-highest scorer with 332 runs in the 2014 Blast at a strike rate of 141.27.
But Munro said: “To be honest, I haven’t been happy with my performances in England, whether it’s been for county – Worcestershire the first time and then Hampshire – and even playing for New Zealand.
“I haven’t really put those performances on the board so to start off with a couple of decent scores under my belt is pleasing from a personal point of view.
“Hopefully, it can be a match-winning one for the Rapids.”
Munro is delighted to be back with Worcestershire after featuring in the 2014 and 2015 Blast and also appearing in one County Championship match versus Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl in his second season.
He said: “When I got the message ‘do you want to come and play at Worcestershire in the Blast’, yes, absolutely. It’s been a long time since I’ve been back.”
The 35-year-old, who was born in Durban, South Africa, arrived at New Road after helping Perth Scorchers to win the Big Bash League as their second-highest scorer with 390 runs at an average of 43.33.
They gained revenge in the final – their seventh appearance – over Sydney Sixers, who had defeated them in the 2021 showpiece.
Munro said: “It was nice to go one further because losing the final last year wasn’t easy, but we regrouped with a slightly different squad but with the core of players who had been hurting the year before.
“The Scorchers have got a real good way of getting to finals, and it was nice to turn the tables on what happened in 2021.”
Pat Brown will be looking to continue his recent good form when he faces the Bears.
Brown was the Rapids hero during their 2018 Blast title triumph with 31 wickets – the most in the country – and he was their leading wicket-taker when reaching the 2019 final.
The 23-year-old missed all of last summer’s campaign through injury but has been building up his fitness and posed a real threat during spells of 3-35 versus Lancashire Lightning and 2-28 against Durham.
Head Coach Alex Gidman said: “Pat bowled really well in the game up at Old Trafford and again on Wednesday evening (at Durham) and it is really good to see him fit and firing.
“He is bowling with good pace and aggression and contributing really well to the team.”
