Australian seamer Steve Magoffin has made a highly impressive start to life at New Road and looks capable of higher honours, writes James Peacock.
Australian cricket coaches have a decent enough record of spotting and developing talented cricketers; but anyone who watched Doug Bollinger bowl for Worcestershire last season might find it hard to comprehend how highly-rated he has since become Down Under, while someone like Steve Magoffin has remained relatively undetected.
His polished action and measured approach to seam bowling has attracted many admiring glances since his arrival at New Road and, compared to the Cava which Bollinger served up last summer, Magoffin looks a vintage Cristal.
However, since the left-arm seamer has returned to his homeland, Bollinger has shown exactly why those at Worcestershire were prepared to take a punt on him; he is obviously talented.
Bollinger, 26, ended this season with his first Cricket Australia contract after finishing the Pura Cup as its leading wicket-taker with 45 wickets at 15 runs each, figures unrecognisable from the 16 at 44 he took for Worcestershire in the County Championship.
Such rapid rises to prominence are not normally recognised in Australian sport by granting quick promotion to the national team, so while Bollinger's call-up after one outstanding season will offer others hope, the 28-year-old Magoffin is banking on reaching the same heights a different way.
He said: "It has been proven in Australia that the selectors will reward consistency, not necessarily people who have only been on the scene a short time.
"They pick toughened cricketers so they know they are going to be experienced. Take Brad Hodge, Mike Hussey and Stuart Clark for example. They all got their chances later on in their careers.
"Hodge and Hussey scored a truck-load of runs in first-class cricket in England and Australia before they got their opportunity to play in the national side.
"That sends the message to the younger players that they are never out of the framework if they are performing well and being consistent."
That is where Magoffin comes in. Unlike Bollinger, he is not blessed with naturally rapid pace; his armoury is built around patience and a metronomic action, much like Glenn McGrath, the man on which those virtues have been modelled and against whom he is often compared.
Magoffin added: "I have no idea where I sit in the framework of things back home; that's up to the selectors to decide. I am just trying to improve as best I can and coming to England can help that.
"Being able to adapt to pitches is important and that helps here. I haven't really tried to change too much from how I bowled in Australia.
"I've found that I may have to vary my length a bit more over here but it's just a case of working that out quickly. Whether my performances are being observed back home, I don't know but if I am doing well, it can only help in the long run.
"Being here is also about showing people back home that I just don't bowl for six months of the year. If you are in form, taking wickets or scoring runs in different conditions for 12 months, that is also important."
Magoffin was left short of state cricket opportunities at Queensland before moving to Western Australia, where he has undoubtedly benefited under the tutelage and leadership of another former Worcestershire favourite, Tom Moody.
While it is worth noting that Michael Kasprowicz, Andrew Bichel, Joe Dawes, Ashley Noffke and Mitchell Johnson were the seam
bowlers on Queensland's books that kept a young Magoffin in the background, it is more pertinent to recognise that the move West helped the young seamer develop his own ideas about his bowling.
That is where McGrath comes in: his influence is obvious in the developing prospect unfolding at New Road.
"He wasn't the quickest and he didn't swing the ball too much but he was very consistent in the areas that he bowled," said Magoffin.
"He got his wickets by trying to build up pressure, which is something I have tried to do. Early on in my career, I used to be a lot more attacking but now I'm happy to use a good deal of overs in order to build up pressure, rather than trying to knock batsmen over straight away.
"At my pace, accomplished batsmen have nothing to worry about. "If I am going really hard at them, I will probably make things easier and go for more runs.
"I don't have the element to my game of being able to run in and bowl at 150 kph like some guys have. The queue of fast bowlers at Queensland was just unbelievable, so I knew that if I was going to start my career, it was going to be in Perth.
"I moved there when I was 24 and I have just signed a three-year deal with Western Australia. I am happy there and have no intention of going back to Queensland."
When Magoffin returns to Western Australia is still not yet known given Worcester-shire's desire to find an overseas player for the Twenty20 season, which gets under way on June 11. The Australian's contract ends on June 9.
"I have only played one Twenty20 game in Australia, having been rested for most of Western Australia's games," he said. "But I'd like to play more and, if that happens here, that would be great.
"I've made some great friends here already. I've come into their area and all the guys have made me feel really welcome."
On the day that it was announced that next year's touring Australia side will be playing at Worcestershire before the first Test at Cardiff, it could well be Magoffin from the Diglis End and Bollinger running in from New Road.
