FORMER Colchester and East Essex Cricket Club player Tom Blundell has been selected for the New Zealand squad to tour England this year, writes PHIL WOLSKI.
Blundell has featured in 44 Tests scoring 2,171 runs in 72 innings primarily as a wicket-keeper batsman, and there lies an interesting association with Colchester.
He arrived in Castle Park as a batting all-rounder that could bowl quality off-spin, with no plans to take the gloves.
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Blundell would typically score a century wearing three sweaters, as he sought to remove the last morsel of weight in his campaign for Iron-Man like fitness.
He would leave the pitch dripping, as if he had just exited from the pool at Colchester Leisure World!
Blundell scored 2,737 runs in 70 games for Colchester over seasons 2012 and 2013 whilst taking 38 wickets for 1,055 runs at an average of 27.8, in 2012.
A local player availability crisis then led to him converting to a wicket-keeper in 2013, taking 25 catches and eight stumpings during his debut season in that role.
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Colchester and East Essex CC can claim credit for his conversion to a keeper or at least be the first to have discovered his talent as a glove man.
He debuted for New Zealand in that role in 2017, scoring a century on debut.
England v New Zealand Test series: First Test (Thursday June 4 - Monday June 8), Lord's; Second Test (Wednesday June 17 - Sunday June 21), The Kia Oval; Third Test (Thursday June 25 - Monday June 29), Trent Bridge.
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