English youngster Mason Crane came to Sydney last summer to mould his leg spin in the local grade competition.
Next time he returns, it might just be as an Ashes wildcard who scuppers Australia's desperate bid to win back the sacred urn.
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England legspinner an Ashes threat?
Ex-NSW spinner Mason Crane has been called into the England Test squad ahead of their series with the West Indies.
Twenty-year-old Crane has just been named in England's 13-man squad for the forthcoming day-night Test at Edgbaston next week against the West Indies.
No doubt England coach and ex-NSW man Trevor Bayliss has an eye firmly fixed on the Ashes in Australia later this year, and the potential damage Crane could do on the wickets that so suited him over the summer.
Crane starred for club side Gordon with the ball last season, and left as Sydney's leading wicket taker in first grade – his 45 scalps in just 11 matches making him the first spin bowler in almost a decade to win the Bill O'Reilly medal as the competition's best player.
So impressive was Crane's summer he forced himself into the NSW Sheffield Shield team for their penultimate game of the season against South Australia at the SCG, and took five wickets.
In doing so he became the first international to represent the Blues since Imran Khan in 1985.
Behind the scenes Crane worked tirelessly with former Australian leg spinner Stuart MacGill, the man who presented Crane with his baggy Blue before he debuted for the state.
It was a special moment – SCG MacGill passing on the cap to Mason Sidney Crane.
"It doesn't happen too often in NSW cricket but to get an overseas player to play for the Blues but he slotted straight in, he's a great kid and he did very well during that particular game," Blues coach Trent Johnston said.
"He'd be a Stuart MacGill type of leg-spin bowler, he's looking to take wickets, he's very aggressive. He's got it all, a good wrong'un and a good flipper, top spinner, he turns his leg spinner quite far."
Crane is certainly not a bolt from the blue as far as English cricket is concerned.
He's long been in the English set-up and represented at under-19s level before heading to Australia last summer on the advice of those above him.
He'd also played his share of first-class games for Hampshire, the former home of leg-spinning great Shane Warne, and had been in strong form for the county prior to his recent Test call-up.
That followed two T20 internationals in June against South Africa, and in the second of those he landed his maiden international wicket – superstar batsman AB de Villiers.
His arrival at Gordon came through another former England player, Will Smith, who represented the club on four separate occasions over a span of about 16 years.
When Crane was advised to travel to Australia, Smith put him in touch with Gordon who were only too happy to welcome the English prodigy.
He lived with the club's former president Andrew Falk, the chairman of the Sydney Cricket Association, who instantly identified that Crane's star shone brighter than most.
Not only could he rip the ball as much as Warne and MacGIll used to, but he loved the sport and had an endless application to it.
On one occasion for Gordon he bowled a spell of 41 overs straight, picking up the ball before lunch and continuing right through to the final session.
As chief scorer for Gordon, Falk witnessed every ball Crane bowled for the club last season.
"He is an extraordinary talent, I'm an old leg spinner from way back and I have never seen anything like that," Falk said. "Just to be able to have so much control at that age is just amazing. The only other person that I've ever known to have that skill has been Shane Warne. I love watching leg spin bowlers bowl, but he's just got a rare talent.
"With Trevor Bayliss as the Pommy coach, he's still got a lot of contacts back in NSW, he'd heard how good this bloke was and I think they've been keeping a pretty close eye on him since he's been back [in England]."
Former Australian and NSW quick Geoff Lawson also expects Crane to feature in the Ashes.
"They're playing him in this Test match against the Windies to see, I think they'd love to have him out here particularly since he's played a bit at the SCG and done well," Lawson said.
"He gives it a big rip, he's a classic Australian leg spinner. Gives a few away, bowls a few bad balls but his good ones are pretty good.
"I wish he was an Aussie."
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