Magoffin poised for County debut

10:24am Wednesday 9th April 2008

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STEVE Magoffin could be in line for a shock Worcestershire debut today against Essex.

The Australian seam bowler, who will be the County's overseas player for the first part of the season, arrived in England last night and joined up with his new team-mates in Chelmsford for the two-day pre-season friendly.

Depending on how the flight from Perth has affected the 28-year-old Western Australian players' player-of-the-year, director of cricket Steve Rhodes will decide whether to risk him or not.

"Steve will join us at Essex," Rhodes confirmed. "We'll have to see how the flight has affected him and if he comes through it there's a chance that he will play in a very small capacity."

Having made the Pura Cup and Ford Ranger Cup teams of the year, the Queensland-born right-arm seamer already has his name on the team-sheet for Saturday's final warm-up match against Herefordshire at New Road.

Rhodes said: "He will play on Saturday, that is the definite game where he can get a little bit of cricket inside of him before the season starts."

While Magoffin could get his first run-out in Worcestershire colours today, compatriot Matt Mason, however, is battling to be fit for the start of the new campaign.

The Aussie strike bowler's rehabilitation from double shoulder surgery, which curtailed the majority of his season last year, is taking longer than expected after picking up a slight side strain in pre-season.

But Rhodes is not ruling out the 34-year-old for that first Champion-ship match at Warwickshire next week.

"Matt is getting there, but it is taking a little bit longer than we thought," Rhodes said. "I'm not dismissing him from the first game of the season, but it is going to be a tough call.

"He has been bowling for quite a while now, but when you raise the intensity it can take a while for the body to catch up.

"There are a lot of stresses placed on a fast bowler's body so we want to make sure that he is right. We don't want to bring him back too soon or kill him off when we haven't seen the best of him."

Rhodes knows that two of his strike bowlers, Mason and Simon Jones, have had their share of injuries over the past few seasons and the New Road chief is aware that careful management of the duo is needed.

He added: "Like Simon, I would love to have Matt fit and bowling in August and September."

The County's director of cricket will need his bowlers fit and firing better than they did at Warwickshire on Monday as the Bears plundered the Worcestershire seam department to all corners of Edgbaston in the nine-wicket win.