Duffy signs English deal as test goal remains
“It will be good to go test my skills somewhere else, and that Zimbabwe tour I’m desperate to make a [test] debut over there, hopefully."
Southland’s Jacob Duffy will head to England in April on a three-month contract with English county cricket team Worcestershire.
The 30-year-old will be available for six red-ball matches in April and May and at least one of the two rounds scheduled in June.
His deal also covers eight T20 Blast games up until the end of that month.
The hope is Duffy will then join the Black Caps in Zimbabwe in July and potentially make his test debut.
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Duffy was the star of the show for the Black Caps in their 2-1 T20 series win over Sri Lanka during the past week.
He is also part of the Black Caps ODI squad for the three-match series against Sri Lanka starting in Wellington today [Sunday].
The new ball bowler is hoping to put his best foot forward for a spot in the New Zealand squad for the Champions Trophy ODI tournament in February and March.
“It’s an ICC event and it’s something I haven’t been to before. I would desperately love to go to that and put my hand up, and potentially bring home some silverware for New Zealand too.
“That’s what it’s all about, and winning games of cricket for your country,” Duffy told Newstalk ZB.
Although the ultimate prize remains a potential test debut at some point. It’s something the 2021 Southland Sportsperson of the Year has been working towards for some time. He’s taken 299 first-class wickets to date in his career.
“The test matches haven’t quite happened for me yet, hopefully they will one day.
“Seeing Tim [Southee] go about it, it has been a huge honour to sit behind him and watch him go about his business.
“I guess he was holding me out of the team for a long time, but I couldn’t think of a better bloke to be doing it because he treated me with huge respect and was always helping me grow my game, I owe him a lot in that regard.
“I do feel like I am ready to take a step up and take a bit more responsibility.”
He’s hoping the stint playing for Worcestershire will help him in that quest for a test match for his country.
“It will be good to go test my skills somewhere else, and that Zimbabwe tour I’m desperate to make a [test] debut over there, hopefully. Fingers crossed, you never know what happens.”
For the moment Duffy is keen to continue to establishment himself as a regular feature in the Black Caps white ball team.