Mustard in pole position to become first choice

SLEDGING has been at the forefront of the cricketing agenda in recent months.

But for Durham's latest England prospect, it was sledging of a more traditional kind that has occupied him during the winter.

While the Australian and Indian cricketers have hit the news and sporting headlines with their over-the-top verbal slurs during the on-going series Down Under, Phil 'The Colonel' Mustard took time out with his wife Louise and young son Hayden on an Alpine holiday.

Asked if he was risking life and limb on the Swiss slopes, the affable Wearsider revealed he spent most of his time towing his 18-month-old round by sledge.

"I was just sledging with the little one. I think I would be in trouble if it was anything too daring."

It was on his return that Mustard learned of his inclusion in both Test and limited overs England squads for the forthcoming series in New Zealand.

He flies today in pole position to make the problem position of England wicket-keeper his own.

The modern requirement for the glove man to be more than proficient with the bat has seen his stock rise, particularly as other contenders have fallen by the wayside with poor displays either behind or in front of the stumps since Alec Stewart's retirement.

His cameo innings, biffing the ball around at the start of the innings during his brief taste of life at international level, in the one-day series in Sri Lanka in the autumn, whetted his appetite for more.

Many were surprised that he had not been included in England's squad for the inaugural World Twenty20 championship in South Africa, in September.

But a broken finger suffered by his, now predecessor as England 'keeper, Matt Prior, finally saw Mustard called up for the five-match one-day series in Sri Lanka in October.

He was encouraged to play his normal game, which contributed as much as anyone to Durham's successes in 50 overs cricket in recent seasons.

His regular scores in the mid to high 20s in Sri Lanka put England on the right course for a rare away series win in one-day internationals.

"The coaching staff just said: 'Go out and do what you do for Durham.'

"It was successful and we won the series 3-2, so I'll look to do the same in New Zealand.

"It might be slightly different in the Tests, but I've got to prove I'm a Test match player."

The England party fly from Heathrow today for the initial one-day series in, 'the land of the long white cloud', with Mustard slightly ahead in the pecking order than fellow glove man, another 25-year-old international novice, Tim Ambrose.

It is a rarity for an England side leaves these shores with neither wicketkeeper having any Test experience.

But Mustard believes his performances in Sri Lanka have put him slightly ahead of his Warwickshire counterpart in the bid to land the prized wicketkeeping berth for the England Test team.

"I must have been doing something right. But, there's a lot of hard work to do. There's a lot of competition, but both me and Tim Ambrose are there now.

"We'll work hard and pick up tips from each other. It's always nice, though, to have the upper hand on your competitor."

Mustard is expected to get the selectors' nod for the two Twenty20 and five one-day internationals at the start of the tour.

How he performs in those will be a deciding factor in Mustard maintaining his place behind the stumps for the three Tests which complete the tour, in March.

"Hopefully, if I do well in the one-dayers, I'll hold my place for the Tests.

"I don't think I have to look too far ahead, but after the New Zealand tour it's the English summer.

"If I perform well, hopefully I can hold my ground for the summer."

Mustard concedes that keeping guard behind the stumps was not a lifelong calling.

It was only in his mid-teens playing for Durham Coast League side Hylton Colliery Welfare's Under-18s, that he first donned the gauntlets, to relieve older brother Kevin.

"He's two years older than me and he was always the keeper then, while I just batted.

"But he had dodgy knees and in one game he said: 'Do you fancy a go as wicky?'

"I was a bit hesitant and I think I let a few byes past in that first game, but I just enjoyed diving around."

Despite his initial reluctance, his performances with both bat and gloves caught the eye of Durham coach Geoff Cook and earned him an invite to the county's academy.

"It was only one-and-a-half or two years after that first game as wicketkeeper. Geoff Cook saw something about me and brought me to the academy.

"I remember my first game for the second XI, when I was about 17 or 18.

"I was keeping to Melvyn Betts who was bowling at the speed of light, but I thought: 'This is what I like and this is what I want to do'."

The rest is history, as Mustard grabbed his chance both batting and keeping.

He made his Durham first team debut in 2002 and within a few seasons made the spot his own.

By the end of the 2006 season he was firmly established as Durham's main batsman/stumper, featuring in the county's record sixth wicket partnership, 249 with Gordon Muchall, on his way to his personal high score of 130 against Kent, at Canterbury.

He also hit his then highest one-day score of 84 against Essex and the county's top individual tally at its least successful form of the game, Twenty20, 67 not out, against Derbyshire.

The good form continued through last season and his 49 at the start of Durham's innings in their historic Friends Provident Trophy Final victory over Hampshire at Lord's, when he was unluckily given out lbw, probably put him at the forefront of the selectors' minds.

The comparison with the great Adam Gilchrist from no less than Hampshire's Aussie spin legend, Shane Warne, was probably more help than hindrance.

Six months on and Mustard is now about the make his first visit to New Zealand, where conditions are more akin to Chester-le-Street than Kandy and Galle.

With big-hitting Jacob Oram, a modern day equivalent of Durham's former Kiwi colossus, Lance Cairns, Mustard concedes it may prove advisable to leave sledging on the Swiss ski slopes