JACK Shantry is hoping his winter in New Zealand will help him regain his place in the Worcestershire team.
The left-arm seamer arrives in Auckland tomorrow to play for grade side Cornwall, the team County skipper Daryl Mitchell played for last year.
The 23-year-old was left out for the final three games of the LV= County Championship Division One campaign.
But as Shantry prepares for his second winter overseas, last year he played for Campbelltown in Sydney, he hopes his all-round game will benefit.
“It was a disappointing season for me personally, I rightly lost my place in the team and now hope I can use my time in New Zealand to help get me back,” he said.
“At the moment there is Alan Richardson, Gareth Andrew, David Lucas and Richard Jones who are likely to be the four first-choice seamers so it is up to me to try and force my way back.
“I felt I bowled reasonably well in the one-day matches but I don’t want to get labelled as a limited overs player.”
Shantry, one of six Worcestershire players heading overseas for the winter, is hoping he can use newly-crowned player-of-the-year Andrew as inspiration to improve his game.
“Gaz has had a great year and if I can contribute like he has then I wou be really happy,” Shantry added.
“I’m looking forward to playing in New Zealand as the conditions there are quite similar to here and Mitch really sold the club to me.”
Also jetting off are batsmen Matt Pardoe and Neil Pinner, who are bound for Adelaide, as is young wicketkeeper Ben Cox. Leg-spinner Brett D’Oliveira will spend the winter in South Africa, as will seamer Chris Russell.
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