George Worker

George Worker comes from the same school as Jacob Oram. The left-handed top-order batsman, who also can bowl a bit of left-arm spin, captained Palmerston North Boys and also represented New Zealand in the U-19 category. In his debut game, Worker scored 71 opening the batting for the Central Districts.

However, his first class batting has dipped since then and he averages a mere 24.40. It is his List A and T20 prowess that has caught the attention of the selectors. In fact, in the 2012 English season, he had signed for Scotland as their overseas player in the Clydesdale Bank 40, but had to withdraw as he was picked for the national winter development programme in New Zealand.
Worker got his first call to turn up for New Zealand when he was selected for the tour of Zimbabwe in August 2015. Unfortunately, he has not played much cricket for New Zealand since then.

The 2016-17 domestic season saw Worker come into his own. The southpaw scored runs at will and became of the leading run-scorers in the domestic circuit. He was the lone shining star for Central Districts, who finished fifth in the Plunket Shield. That performance earned Worker a comeback to the national side for the tri-series in Ireland involving the hosts and Bangladesh.

Worker returned to the national set-up after a gap of almost two years. It's actually surprising that Worker isn't a regular for New Zealand considering the fact that he has made ample use of the limited opportunities that he has got thus far. He hasn't featured in the shortest format since 2015 despite doing well in the two games that he has played in. The ODI numbers are also good but Worker has still been in and out of the side. He definitely has the game to be a star for New Zealand in white-ball cricket if he can remain fit and maintain his hunger to succeed.


By Hariprasad Sadanandan