Phil Mustard has been contacted about a contract to play in South Africa’s Twenty20 competition, having helped Mountaineers win Zimbabwe’s Stanbic Bank 20 Series.
Opening the batting, Mustard top-scored with 56 in a 27-run victory over a Mashonaland Eagles side featuring Ryan ten Doeschate, Peter Trego, Rory Hamilton-Brown and Andrew Hall in Sunday’s final at Harare Sports Club.
It was the third straight score of 40 or more for the 29-year-old Durham wicketkeeper-batsman, who signed a five-week deal that also includes a four-day and one-day game before he returns home for christmas flowers south africa .
With the tournament televised in South Africa, Mustard’s exploits have attracted attention from south of the border ahead of their domestic T20 which runs from mid-February to the end of March.
“I’ve had some feedback from South Africa saying they might be interested in me going over for the Twenty20 cricket,” Mustard, who played in 10 one-day and two T20 internationals for England from 2007 to 2008, told ecb.co.uk.
“It was a great opportunity for me to come out here and perform because SuperSport, which is the South African TV, had it all. So that was perfect for me. I’ve performed pretty well so hopefully that puts me in the window for the South African Twenty20.”
Besides those he faced in the final, Yorkshire batsman Gary Ballance and Hampshire all-rounder Liam Dawson were among other county players taking part in the competition.
Mustard believes the quality of Zimbabwe’s T20 is reasonably high, aiding his cause for a contract in South Africa.
“Once you bring in all the county players, I think it brings the standard up a little bit. It would probably be a bit better than (county) second team cricket,” he said.
“You’ve got the internationals as well like Dirk Nannes, Chris Gayle, Shaun Tait, Ryan ten Doeschate, Rory Hamilton-Brown, myself, Paul Horton and Tom Smith from Lancs. You’ve got really good cricketers over there to better the standard and I think it’s showing.”
The level of coaching has also impressed Mustard with the likes of Dave Houghton at Matabeleland Tuskers and Yorkshire-bound Jason Gillespie at Mid West Rhinos.
“I think it’s pretty good, the coaching out here,” Mustard added. “They’ve got some big names like Jason Gillespie, Dave Houghton. They’ve got some really good coaches out here and I think people just enjoy coming because it’s quite a nice country to come to.”
Mustard himself has been enhancing his coaching skills by working with the youth and senior sides at the Harare-based franchise.
“I wouldn’t say it’s like proper coaching,” he admitted. “Basically it’s being around the team while I’m playing for them, trying to help out as much as I can.
“It’s not a case of one-to-one stuff. It’s just a case of coming out here and trying to help some young guys in Zimbabwe to improve their cricket. I think it’s gone pretty well.”
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