Owais Shah completes move to Essex
Former England and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Middlesex-c817 batsman Owais Shah has completed a move to Essex and has signed a two-year contract with the county.
Shah was released by Middlesex at the end of last season after the county announced that he was no longer a key figure in the future of the county. Essex, headed by coach Paul Grayson, moved quickly to
secure Shah's services ahead of next season.
Shah says he is looking forward to being a regular in the Essex team. He hopes this will aid his push to get back into the England Test team for the tour of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 next summer.
"I'm still passionate about representing England and believe by playing my cricket at Essex I will have every chance of achieving that. I'm thrilled at the prospect of becoming an Essex player and I'm
looking forward to joining up with the squad and the coaching staff," Shah told the BBC.
Some pundits in the game have already suggested that Shah is past his peak. However, he says he is playing the best cricket of his life and Essex will see the evidence of this next season.
Shah has nothing but positive messages to say about the news and says the atmospheric Chelmsford [Essex's main home ground] crowds will inspire him to produce his best form in important games for his new
county.
"This is an exciting new start for me and a wonderful opportunity to show everyone at Essex what I'm capable of. I believe that, at 32, I'm at my peak as a cricketer and still have an enormous amount to
offer in all forms of the game," Shah added.
This is a very shrewd piece of business for the county because Shah will strengthen an already strong Essex batting line up. When there are no England commitments, Essex will have a top six that includes
Alastair Cook, Shah, Ravi Bopara, Mark Pettini, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/James-Foster-c1644 and Ryan ten Doeschate.
This is arguably going to be the strongest batting line up in division two of the county championship next season. Shah's first class average of just over 42 is as good as any other player in Essex and
it should aid a push for promotion.
"Owais is the sort of high-quality batsman that we have lacked since Ronnie Irani and Andy Flower retired. He's probably one of the top three batsmen not currently playing international cricket alongside
Mark Ramprakash and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marcus-Trescothick-c1898," Essex head coach Paul Grayson added on the BBC website.
Grayson suggests that Essex is the perfect platform for Shah to revitalise his England career. He is guaranteed a starting place with Essex whereas he wasn't at Middlesex. The flat Chelmsford pitch will
also aid his batting and should allow him to score a lot of runs over the course of next season.
"It's a fresh challenge having been with one club for so long. Hopefully we can help him get his England place back which is what he tells us he wants," added Grayson.
Betting advice
At this moment in time Shah and Ravi Bopara do not figure in England's Test match plans. This means there will be a lot of games for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783 next year where both of them will play for the county.
They should dominate attacks all over the country in division two. Don't be afraid to have a bet right now on Shah being the top run scorer at the county next season and in all of division two.
Shah is capable of scoring hundreds in any form of the game and should be back to do so.
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