Murtagh leads the way for Middlesex

Tim Murtagh looks to the heavens after completing a 10-wicket haul at Lord's

The responsibility of leading the attack paid dividends for Tim Murtagh and Middlesex as the seamer ended the 2008 season with more wickets than anyone else in county cricket.

The young paceman took 64 wickets in Division Two of the LV County Championship, comfortably leading the way, with a further 20 across the Friends Provident Trophy and NatWest Pro40 competitions.

Middlesex’s triumphant Twenty20 campaign was also indebted to Murtagh, who took another 20 wickets in the competition to establish himself as the county’s main strike bowler.

A tally of 104 wickets in a season is a healthy return to have and Murtagh admits he was delighted with how he performed.

“It’s been my best season by quite a long way,” he told ecb.co.uk. “I’ve really enjoyed it.

“I’ve managed to stay fit and played in every game this year, which is a massive bonus. That is why I left Surrey and came to Middlesex in the first place.”

Surrey released Murtagh at the end of the 2006 season and he has since grabbed his opportunity with Middlesex with both hands.

“I had a fairly good season last year, and my aim was always to improve on that and take more wickets than I did last year,” he said.

“I worked pretty hard during the winter. I went away to Sydney again and worked on my game there. That made me a better cricketer, so I guess I wasn’t surprised.”

Chris Silverwood and Alan Richardson were originally tagged as Middlesex’s opening bowlers, but they managed just 10 championship games between them as Murtagh was given his head.

“We had a couple of injuries to the senior bowlers, so I got more of an opportunity to bowl more, especially with the new ball, which definitely helps if you are looking to take wickets,” Murtagh confirmed.

“I had to lead the attack in the absence of some of these other guys, so my role in the team changed a bit. But I loved it.

Murtagh thrived on the extra responsibility of leading the Middlesex attack this year

“The body is a bit tired now and I am sure I grumbled and groaned at various times during the year, but overall I can’t complain.

“It is something that I wanted to do and it almost got forced upon me this year, with the injuries we had.”

Murtagh is not one to shirk a challenge and the added pressure on him to deliver just spurred him on to further success as he took the season by storm.

“Taking 10 wickets in a game for the first time - against Essex at Lord’s - was my highlight,” he said. “Any time you take five wickets, at Lord’s especially, is something very special, so to get 10 wickets in a match...”

It has not been quite so good for Middlesex as a team, however, as they will be playing second division cricket in both league competitions next year.

“It has been a funny kind of season because we had some real highs in winning the Twenty20 and then the disappointment of not getting promoted in the four-dayers and finishing third again like we did last year, and getting relegated in the Pro40,” summed up Murtagh.

“It has been a real mixed bag, but I wouldn’t swap that thrill of winning the Twenty20 for anything.”

That Twenty20 Cup win brought Middlesex a place in the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League and the Stanford Super Series in Antigua this winter, which lifted the spirits of the whole club.

“It’s massive,” Murtagh agreed. “It is something that is new to English cricket, really.

“These two tournaments we are going to be involved in are going to be huge. It’s been a long summer but we have got these rewards at the end of it.

“The club is really looking forward to it, as well as the players.”

While every other county cricketer in the country is looking forward to a well-earned rest after six months of solid cricket, the recently-announced Middlesex squad is gearing up for one of the most exciting times in its history.

“We are used to finishing the season and lazing around for a month or so doing nothing,” Murtagh confessed. “It is going to be slightly different having to train and get ourselves prepared for these tournaments.

“But there are great rewards at the end of it if we can do well.”