PEARS pace ace Pat Brown (pictured) has revealed he sought the advice of South African legend Allan Donald just minutes after the Rapids suffered semi-final heartbreak in the Royal London One Day Cup against Kent.
The University Of Worcester student admitted he relished the challenges of first team cricket after appearing for the New Road side in all formats of the game.
Brown suffered the heartbreak of being part of the Rapids side which were edged out by Kent after bowling a slower ball which did not produce the results he would have wanted in the final over.
But within minutes, the teenager was looking to learn for the future after seizing the opportunity to chat with Donald who is Kent’s assistant coach.
Since then he has produced some key moments for the Pears as he looks to build on the potential initially shown at senior level last season when playing four of the final five Specsavers County Championship games on the way to promotion.
After bowling England Test opener and Lancashire century-maker Keaton Jennings at a crucial time in the Championship win over the Red Rose county, the Peterborough born player conjured up his best Vitality Blast figures of 3-28 in the win over Birmingham Bears including another big name scalp in former England batsman Ian Bell.
He has continued his rich vein of form in the Vitaity Blast and took 3-34 in Sunday’s 12 run defeat to the Yorkshire Vikings in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
“Learning as a young player in thick of action, you can’t put a price on it, being involved in games like I have been, bowling in pressure situations,” he said.
“I’ve just looked to carry that forward into T20 and hopefully I will use that experience for a few more situations.”
“I just saw him (Donald) on the balcony and I was feeling sorry for myself and I thought ‘I might not get this chance again to speak to someone like that.
“I just went over and really asked what his thoughts were on a few things. I asked for 30 seconds and we spoke for 15 minutes. It was nice of him to do that for someone he will probably never see again.
“He is a proper legend, someone I really look up to as well, more when I got a bit older. I’ve seen his spells against Atherton and heard about him. He was someone who I thought ‘wow, this guy can really get into a batsman and get it down there quickly.”
As well as help from a South African legend, Brown was full of praise for county bowling coach Alan Richardson.
“We just try and keep it as simple as possible, sometimes with only two or three (different) balls,” he said,
“I was quite happy with that. That is the message Richo puts across so I guess he was quite happy as well.”
