Saturday Spotlight: Plunkett out to play a star role

Two-and-a-half-years ago, Liam Plunkett was making his Durham debut at Headingley a matter of days after celebrating his 18th birthday.

On Monday, the Middlesbrough-born fast bowler will join up with an England squad still basking in their Ashes success ahead of next month's three-Test tour of Pakistan.

His progress has already been remarkable and, after a summer that saw incredible feats become the norm, few would bet against Plunkett maintaining his stellar progress on the Asian sub-continent.

After all, if England can beat the world champions, what is there to stop an untried 20-year-old from becoming a genuine Test star?

"The whole thing is just incredible," said Plunkett, in a brief moment of reflection during a helter-skelter week that has inevitably seen his world turned upside down.

"I got a phone call on Tuesday morning telling me I had been called into the Test squad and my life has been surreal ever since.

"It's gradually starting to sink in now, but there's been so much to do that I haven't really had time to think about what it all means.

"One thing is obvious though. Everything about the England squad is different.

"It's so much bigger than anything you experience in county cricket and so much more intense than anything else I've been used to.

"The whole thing steps up another level. The profile, the pressure, the attention - everything is taken to the extreme."

This summer's Ashes series certainly provided proof of that. Cricket moved from the back pages of the newspaper to the front, and gradually seeped into the heart of the nation's social fabric.

But one of the greatest ironies about England's success was that, while the rest of the nation became gripped with cricket fever, most English cricketers were far too busy to be a part of it.

Unlike in football, where the domestic game grinds to a halt whenever internationals are taking place, cricket's county programme continued unhindered while Australia were being put to the sword.

So, when Plunkett joins up with the England Test squad this week, he really will be taking a step into the unknown.

Not only has he never represented his country before - other than touring both Bangladesh and Australia with the Under-19s - he freely admits that his team-mates' greatest achievement largely passed him by.

"It was a strange summer," said Plunkett, who played his first cricket game for Marske Cricket Club at the age of just seven. "You were busy playing in your own games, but at the same time you were desperately trying to keep track of what the state of play was with England.

"I watched the highlights on the nights and, even from that, you could sense the excitement of everything that was going on. It's amazing to think that I'm going to be a part of all that now.

"I've spoken to Paul (Collingwood), Steve (Harmison) and Gary (Pratt) about it but, to be honest, you didn't need to ask them any questions to see just what it had meant to them.

"They were still buzzing when they arrived back at the club - it was the best experience of their lives, you could see that just by looking at them."

Ask Plunkett to recount the pivotal cricketing experience of his life and it will also involve Australia.

Last autumn, the youngster, who had missed a sizeable chunk of the preceding season with a back problem, was presented with a difficult choice.

Stay in England and slog his way through a succession of winter net sessions at the ECB's National Academy in Loughborough, or up sticks to Adelaide for three months of Australian Grade cricket.

He opted for the latter and, after taking more than 30 wickets at just nine runs apiece, became convinced of his ability to wreak havoc as a strike bowler.

In a precursor of what was to come later in the year, Australia's batsmen had been little more than cannon fodder for one of England's leading lights.

"Last winter was fantastic for me," explained Plunkett. "I love being away from home playing cricket, it's something that's never been a problem to me.

"To be honest, sometimes I prefer being away than being at home. Sometimes it's nice to have that time to yourself where you can switch off and be on your own.

"I was playing as a professional for a local team, and it was nice to have the pressure turned on me for a change.

"It was something I took upon myself.

"I had been picked part-time for the Academy, but I didn't really think a spell of net bowling was the best way to further my career.

"I wanted matches. I didn't want to lose the momentum I'd picked up at the end of the season so, rather than taking a rest, I went to Australia to bowl right through.

Thankfully, the wickets just kept on coming."

Thankfully, for both Plunkett and Durham, they didn't let up when he returned to England either.

His first outing brought five wickets as Leicestershire collapsed to 123 all out and, by the end of a season that saw his county promoted to the first division of both the County Championship and the totesport League, he had claimed 68 victims.

"That first game showed I could perform at county level," he revealed.

"I performed consistently over the first two games and that proved I was worth my place.

"Those first couple of games were a big high for me.

"I've always had confidence in my own ability but it's still nice when things click into place and you can hold your head up and say 'This is where I belong'.

"I always knew this was going to be a big season for me. Steve (Harmison) was always going to be away for most of it, and I got told in the spring that I was going to start the season, no matter what.

"With Steve gone, a window opened for me. It was a chance for me to open the bowling for Durham and I was told that, if I performed, I would keep my place.

"Durham miss Steve but I can't hide the fact that his absence has been good for me."

Similarly, while England will miss Simon Jones this winter, an injury to the Glamorgan seamer could yet catapult Plunkett into the Test arena.

"I've not got any unrealistic expectations," said the Teessider. "Even if I don't bowl a ball, I'll still learn so much just from being out there with the rest of the squad."

This summer, though, has been all about expectations - unrealistic or not.

With the Ashes safely secured, it is time for England to look to the future.

And, despite all their previous successes, as Plunkett will surely testify, the best may still be to come.