Cricket: Home loan benefits for Ali Evans

Ali Evans came to a crossroads and carefully sized up his options. Having played cricket for Scotland at every level through his teens, he reached the age of 19 and was cast out into the cold.

Arriving at Loughborough University, he had expected to profit from the expertise on campus to further his career. Instead, the doors to their fabled Academy were shut in his face, his talents deemed unworthy.

“I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to make it,” Evans recalls. “I did worry. I did question whether cricket was going to be for me.”

With classes by day, and the bars beckoning by night, it was the classic double whammy that has floored the ambitions of so many. It would, he admits, have been so easy to declare with runs still up for grabs.

Instead, he dug in. “I said to myself: ‘you’re in the right environment at Loughborough to give yourself a good crack at it’. I used the facilities and the back-up. I gave it a good crack in my second year. And I’m glad I did because it all rolled on from there. I worked hard for that but it has to continue now.”

This afternoon the now 22-year-old seamer will turn out for the Scottish Saltires against Hampshire in the Clydesdale Bank Pro 40 at Uddingston. However, he is strictly on loan.

Last winter, following a successful trial, Evans took the number of Scots with a contract in English county cricket up to three when he signed for Derbyshire. It will, he hopes, be more than a brief flirtation.

A hockey player before he re-dedicated himself to cricket, Evans headed to Adelaide following his graduation two years ago and it was the making of him.

Impressing both at Carlton and for Scotland Lions on his return, the scouts in Derby took a keen interest. Securing his services, they have now urged him to repay their faith.

“They just said to me to try to keep bowling well and put in the same type of performances I did last year,” he said. “And to put my hand up as much as I can through my own performances.

“Scotland’s got a few injuries so I can come in. From Derbyshire’s point of view, it frees me to get first team cricket. So, if I do well, they can feel comfortable bringing me in. For me, it gives me that exposure to try to perform at the best level.”

Learning his trade with what is, by tradition, one of England’s weakest counties will surely provide openings if he shines in Second XI cricket. But there is little glamour. There are often more bodies on the park than in the crowd and no prospect of riches.

“There’s certainly no houses in the Caribbean,” Evans laughs in a reference to the property empire in Barbados built by Derbyshire resident and aspiring golf interviewer Michael Vaughan.

It is, nonetheless, an environment where he can improve.

“Over the winter I could get in some gym work and then, after Christmas, they gave me a lot of indoor sessions. At times, it’s relaxed but at other times it’s very intense. That allows you to find what works best for you. But being in that professional situation rubs off. You see what is needed to stay at that level. It was a real eye opener for me.”

Evans, Northants batsman Kyle Coetzer and Warwickshire’s Freddie Coleman may soon be joined down south by Preston Mommsen and Richie Berrington, who spent the past week on trial at Leicestershire, who are also tracking Matty Parker.

“We keep in contact through Twitter and Facebook,” Evans said. “It’s good there are now three or four of us getting the chance to show what we can do. We all want to take our chance.”