Sidebottom bags England player of year award

Ryan Sidebottom's journey from county cricket stalwart to international star was confirmed Monday when he was named England's player of the year.

Even a year ago, the 1.93-meter (6-foot-4) Sidebottom was watching England play its opening summer test against the West Indies on television.

But an injury to Matthew Hoggard earned him a recall six years after his only previous Test and the 30-year-old Nottinghamshire bowler has gone on to take 53 wickets in 12 matches.

Sidebottom is now his country's leading strike bowler and an integral part of the team set to open its three-Test series against New Zealand at Lord's on Thursday.

"This time last year I was just training for Nottingham and playing regular county cricket," Sidebottom said. "It's a huge turnaround but not one I want to get carried away with.

"It's massive, but it's not just down to me. The other 10 guys who are playing have made me feel very welcome. So it goes out to all the players, really."

Given former coach Duncan Fletcher's penchant for pace, Sidebottom had long looked unlikely to make the England team even after helping Nottinghamshire to the 2005 County Championship.

He was recognized as possibly county cricket's most reliable bowler, but Ashes winners Steve Harmison, Hoggard and Simon Jones were ahead of him and favored by Fletcher.

But Fletcher quit last year and his replacement Peter Moores drafted in Sidebottom for the second Test against West Indies.

Sidebottom took four wickets for 42, including the prize of Chris Gayle, and then 4-44 in the second innings to lead England to a record win by an innings and 283 runs.

"All the talk was that it would be just for one game, the 'horses for courses' thing," Sidebottom said. "But I sat down with my dad and he said, 'just go out there and do your best and don't look too far ahead. Take each game as it comes.'

"So at Headingley I played as though it was going to be my last game."

But 11 more Tests followed, including the winter tour to Sri Lanka and New Zealand. In the Test series against the Kiwis, he took a total 24 wickets at 17.08 - including 7-47 in the final Test.

Now centrally contracted to the England team, Sidebottom is rated as England's key bowler for his accuracy and ability to swing the ball both ways by no less an authority than Richard Hadlee - who was the first player to reach 400 Test wickets.

The long-retired New Zealand legend expects his countrymen to be troubled this summer.

"It's a massive compliment coming from a great bowler, but I'm not taking much notice because they're a tough team to beat," Sidebottom said. "We're not taking it lightly, especially myself because I've only played a handful of games."

But Sidebottom, who only found out about his award when his teammates pointed out his name on a big screen during training at Lord's, is hoping for a lot more.

"I've still got a few years left in me, but I'm laid-back," he said. "I've been around a long time and I suppose I've learned my game. So I just try to relax and get on with my job and not worry about the occasion and all the people watching."

His next challenge is to work on his game and ensure that batsmen don't start getting comfortable against him.

Familiarity can often lead to bowlers being exposed by opponents at the cost of large numbers of runs, something that could be a danger when England faces the same New Zealand side it beat 2-1 in this year's previous series.

"Batsmen can always line you up and they see that I swing the ball, so I'll work on a few things like getting the ball to come across them a bit more so they don't get settled," Sidebottom said.

"Even if you're a top batsman, nobody likes the ball up around their head so there's the odd bouncer to keep players on their toes so their feet aren't moving."