Sharjah: England’s Laurie Evans wants to make up for lost time as he eyes a possible breakthrough for his country at the topmost level of cricket.
The 30-year-old London-born Evans was the toast in Friday’s night’s opening three-wicket win for the Rashid Khan-led Kabul Zwanan against the Paktia Panthers in the Afghanistan Premier League (APL). Chasing down a daunting 219 for victory, Kabul Zwanan lost wickets at regular intervals requiring 60 runs off the last five overs.
Evans asserted his presence with some big hitting as he joined Fareed Ahmad as Kabul Zwanan chased down the target with five balls to spare. Evans’ unbeaten innings of 79 runs, off only 40 deliveries, included five boundaries and seven sixes to help Kabul Zwanan ease to a well-deserved win. “It was one of my dreams to play franchise cricket and I am just grateful to the APL for giving this opportunity,” he said.
The Surrey County Academy graduate has been involved only in first class cricket so far. After attending Durham University, Evans graduated through the Surrey County Academy in 2007. He also played for the Marylebone CC (MCC) against the touring West Indies along with three first class games for Durham UCCE.
After being released from Surrey in 2010, Evans signed up for Warwickshire and stayed there for six seasons before making a move to Sussex ahead of the 2017 season.
Pursuing rugby — his first love — as a scrum half till he was 15 alongside school friend Danny Cipriani (England’s flyhalf and full back), the six foot lad had to give up on the demanding sport due to recurring shoulder injuries.
Like any aspiring cricketer, Evans — who turns 31 next Friday — would one day like to see himself donning the national colours. “As a player you always want to play the highest level you can, but sometimes the opportunities do not come your way,” Evans shrugged.
“The selectors actually asked me if I would like to play for England and my question to them was “who are you going to drop? You’ve got [Jason] Roy, [Alex] Hales, [Jos] Buttler, [Joe] Root, [Eoin] Morgan. There’s good batting power in England, so where would I fit in?” he asked.
With time running out for him, Evans now wants to make the most of the opportunity of being picked up as the foreign player in the Kabul Zwanan squad for the inaugural edition of the APL.