Oct 15, 2026 · 51 min · 14 segments
In this second part of two, Mark and Marcus are joined by former cricketer turned journalist and broadcaster Simon Hughes to further unpack the GREATEST overseas XI English county cricket has seen…
Simon HughesGuest
Marcus BucklandHost
Mark PougatchHost
Which, which leads me to one last question, Simon, just in terms of the influence that overseas players had.
I, I remember there's always been conversations, "Oh, you know, we can't have all these overseas players because they're getting in the way of young, up-and-coming talent," and all the rest of it.
And we'd oscillate between having one overseas player or two, and nowadays I think you can have two for white ball and two for red ball.
From your experience, and you've, you know, you've mentioned Desmond Haynes, and I th- I always thought Vincent van der Bijl looked a, an incredibly good bowler and actually a lot of fun off, off the pitch, and Wayne Daniel with that amazing run-up.
As a player, do you think that they were a very positive influence in terms of, you know, speeding up the development of, of young English players looking to make their mark first at county and then at international level?
Sometimes in the way they advised things and w- what they said to you, but also practicing against them, watching how they prepared.
Uh, uh, it raised the level of the game so much that it made it exhilarating to play in, because you knew you were up against Procter one day and then Hadley another day, and Sylvester Clarke another day, and Mushtaq Ahmed another day, whatever.
Uh, but it, it challenged you in so many different ways to play against those players or play with them.
You know, whether it was Desmond Haynes or whoever, you wanted to make them impressed by you.
And they would give you bits of advice, and they would encourage you, and that lifted you as well.
You know, I was lucky to play in that era when there were so many great players.
And I think now, you look at it now, and, and it look, c- county cricket looks mundane, I'm afraid.
Now, not because the players aren't trying or aren't good, but just because they don't, you don't have those, those e- that extra level of skill and ability and reputation that made that 1980s in particular the sort of golden era.
Which, which leads me to one last question, Simon, just in terms of the influence that overseas players had.
I, I remember there's always been conversations, "Oh, you know, we can't have all these overseas players because they're getting in the way of young, up-and-coming talent," and all the rest of it.
And we'd oscillate between having one overseas player or two, and nowadays I think you can have two for white ball and two for red ball.
From your experience, and you've, you know, you've mentioned Desmond Haynes, and I th- I always thought Vincent van der Bijl looked a, an incredibly good bowler and actually a lot of fun off, off the pitch, and Wayne Daniel with that amazing run-up.
As a player, do you think that they were a very positive influence in terms of, you know, speeding up the development of, of young English players looking to make their mark first at county and then at international level?
Sometimes in the way they advised things and w- what they said to you, but also practicing against them, watching how they prepared.
Uh, uh, it raised the level of the game so much that it made it exhilarating to play in, because you knew you were up against Procter one day and then Hadley another day, and Sylvester Clarke another day, and Mushtaq Ahmed another day, whatever.
Uh, but it, it challenged you in so many different ways to play against those players or play with them.
You know, whether it was Desmond Haynes or whoever, you wanted to make them impressed by you.
And they would give you bits of advice, and they would encourage you, and that lifted you as well.
You know, I was lucky to play in that era when there were so many great players.
And I think now, you look at it now, and, and it look, c- county cricket looks mundane, I'm afraid.
Now, not because the players aren't trying or aren't good, but just because they don't, you don't have those, those e- that extra level of skill and ability and reputation that made that 1980s in particular the sort of golden era.
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