IRELAND'S new fast-bowling spearhead could be on the brink of a career in English county cricket.
Inside Edge can revealed that Max Sorensen has been in talks with Leicestershire about joining the county for 2014.
"I don't know if it's going to happen", Sorensen said this week. "At the moment it's more of a thought".
But The Hills bowler is adamant about one thing - "I wouldn't go if I had to give up playing cricket for Ireland.
"I see cricket Ireland as my number one."
Sorensen had one taste of representative cricket in South Africa with Northerns - and his first victim was Ireland's Kenny Carroll.
Late in 2006 Northerns took on an ICC Training Camp XI which also included Kevin O'Brien, John Mooney and William Porterfield. The following summer he came to Skerries as professional and quickly settled into life in Fingal.
His brisk pace attracted attention and he was called up for Ireland's Spring 2012 tour to Africa and the ICC World T20 qualifier. He was a revelation in that competition, even with the extra pressure of the newly-arrived Tim Murtagh breathing down his neck.
A maiden over in T20 is rare - the most anyone has managed in an international career is five - but Max bowled four in the tournament, including 4-2-8-2 in the decider against Namibia.
He has since become embedded in the side, and took a career best 5-35 against Scotland last weekend.
Leicestershire are struggling at the bottom of the county championship 2nd division, and last week former England bowler Matthew Hoggard retired. The club come here for a post-season party at the end of the month.
Whether anything comes of the approach, fans can be reassured that Max is now strongly committed to Ireland.
"If I had the opportunity to play county cricket that would be nice," he said, "but Cricket Ireland has done a lot for me, and I want to repay them with loyalty as well."
IF ever a picture could speak a thousand words it's this one. Taken in Malahide on 3rd September, it shows an Irish legend in the final throes of a brilliant career.
It shows the agony of his efforts to bow out with a win over the old enemy, and the pain of realisation that they probably won't be enough. It also shows a vulnerability brought on by fear of an uncertain future, and sadness that his experience can't be harnessed by his adopted homeland.
This picture of a fast bowler raging one last time against the dying of the light, but slipping inevitably into the shadows, is probably the most powerful I've ever seen in the sport.
It deserves to win multiple awards for its creator, Rob O'Connor of Rocshot photography.
‘WINTER is coming', as they say, and Inside Edge goes into hibernation this week. We'll be back to report on Ireland's World T20 qualifying campaign in November, but until then we leave you with the Inside Edge Awards for 2013.
- Player: He led the way by showing Irish players that cricket can be a career, and this summer showed he's still one of the best players in England as one of only three batsmen to score 1,000 runs in Division 1. Add to that centuries for Ireland against Pakistan and UAE, and 96* in the crucial World Cup qualifier, and my award goes to Ed Joyce.
- Interprovincial Player: Leinster Lightning have proved strongest at all formats in the exciting new RSA Interpros, although the novel three-day game demands a concentration and application that seemed alien to many players. John Anderson showed it more than anyone.
- Club Player: Eddie Richardson and Pat Collins vied for the batting and bowling gongs in Leinster, but it was Richardson who kicked on from brilliant club form into the interpro and international arena.
- Young Player: Ireland's women will be in the World T20 in Bangladesh next March, and I expect Kim Garth to be a big star at the tournament. She certainly played a huge part in
- getting them there.
- Match: The series against Pakistan saw Ireland at its best, with the tied thriller a reminder of the power of Kevin O'Brien.
- Event: Only in England, Australia and India do you see 10,000 people at an ODI. But Cricket Ireland persuaded them to come to Malahide on a work (and school) day in September. Marketing manager Andrew Leonard, whose use of social media was brilliant, deserves a large bonus.
- Innings: Max Sorensen's incredible 99no off 36 balls won the RSA Alan Murray Cup semi-final for The Hills, losing half a dozen balls in the process.
- Shot: Ed Joyce has been spoiling us with exquisite fours for years, but one gently stroked to the boundary against Pakistan still sticks in the mind for its effortless grace.
- Wicket: The delivery wasn't his best in nine years in green, but it was good enough to win an lbw decision against England's Michael Carberry. It also turned out to be the last one he will ever take on Irish soil. Take a bow, Trent Johnston.
The club season winds to a close at the weekend, with only a handful of issues to be resolved. All hail these champions:
- Division 1: The Hills
- Division 2: Clontarf
- Division 3: Cork County*
- Division 4: North Kildare
- Division 5: YMCA 3
- Division 6: Railway Union 4
- Division 7: Greystones
- Division 8: Adamstown
- Division 9: Dublin University 2
- Division 10: Phoenix 4
- Division 11: Greystones 2*
- Division 12: Adamstown 2
- Division 13: Dublin University 3
- Division 14: Castleknock 3
- Women's Division 1: Pembroke
- Women's Division 2: YMCA
- Women's Division 3: Rush 2
Winter Fixtures
- 15-30 Nov: ICC World T20 Qualifiers, Abu Dhabi
- 10-14 Dec: ICC Intercontinental Cup final (5 day): Ireland v Afghanistan, Dubai
- 16 Mar-6 Apr: ICC World T20, Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong; Bangladesh
- 16 Mar-6 Apr: ICC Women's World T20, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh