PHIL Mustard headed to Zimbabwe before Christmas to help teach youngsters about cricket.
But he came home having learned plenty about Twenty20 from two of its leading exponents.
Mustard had a short stint with Mountaineers, who scaled the heights in the Pro20. The 29-year-old led the way, top-scoring in the final with 56.
But the performances of Chris Gayle and Ryan ten Doeschate left the biggest impression on him.
“It was nice to get some Twenty20 experience out there,” says Mustard. “I’ve played a bit for England and Durham, but I probably didn’t quite know my game before I went out there.
“It was good to be able to express myself. Durham’s a bit different for me, it’s more of a pressure situation because it’s my team so I put more pressure on myself to do well for them.”
Mustard has scored more career runs than anyone for the Riversiders in his 81 Twenty20 appearances, but he was wowed by former West Indies captain Gayle and Essex’s Dutch international Ten Doeschate (pictured left).
“I’ve learned to be a bit more positive, but that doesn’t mean just throwing the bat at everything,” Mustard reflects. “To be out there and see Chris Gayle bat was amazing, and I learned a lot from that, and from seeing Ryan ten Doeschate make a big hundred.
“Gayle’s a slow starter, and it makes you realise Twenty20’s a lot of overs. He takes four or five overs to get in, and he’s normally faced about 20 balls before he tries to hit every ball out of the park.”
Touching up his Twenty20 skills was not the only way Mustard’s busman’s holiday was meant to help his cricketing development. Durham’s captain enjoyed the role of senior pro in a young squad.
“The practice facilities weren’t great so I couldn’t do too much actually coaching, but I was able to pass on a bit of my knowledge about the game to the young players there,” he says. “Hopefully they took it on board, because we had a really good Twenty20.
“The four-day and the 50-over stuff, the standard wasn’t great, but with all the overseas players the Twenty20 made it feel like a proper competition.”
