Steve Rhodes would welcome other Worcestershire players emulating Ross Whiteley and playing in T20 tournaments this winter to increase and widen their experience of the short format of the game.
Rapids all-rounder Ross Whiteley – who has smashed 62 sixes in the T20 Blast in the past three seasons – has signed to play for the Sylhet Sixers franchise in the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League.
The big-hitting Whiteley, the first English players to hit six sixes in an over this summer in any form of cricket, will take part in the seven team T20 tournament which runs from November 2 to December 20.
Director Of Cricket Rhodes believes the knowledge gained from playing in such competitions in different conditions will only stand players at New Road in good stead when the T20 Blast resumes next sumer.
Rhodes said: “I know Ross wanted to get involved in some T20 tournaments.
“We didn’t do ourselves justice in the T20 Blast but there were also another nine teams who didn’t qualify (for the quarter-finals).
“I looked at some of them and thought ‘crikey, there are some really good teams here who didn’t qualify’ so there are a few people didn’t do themselves justice.
“But one of the things we’ve got to do is play more T20 so if players can gather that experience elsewhere, then fine.
“In our winter, when it suits us fine, you’ve got the likes of Bangladesh, South Africa, New Zealand hosting T20 competitions and the Big Bash.”
*We will be featuring an exclusive interview with Ross Whiteley on the Worcs CCC website during the next few days.
