Schofield finds his groove

Chris Schofield has turned his career around since joining Surrey for the 2007 season

After two years spent playing in the cricketing wilderness of the minor counties, following his embittered parting from Lancashire, Chris Schofield is back with a bang.

The leg-spinner claimed 17 wickets in the group stages of the Twenty20 Cup and was handed a place in England’s provisional squad of 30 for the World Twenty20 tournament.

He started the season as Surrey’s third-choice spinner behind Nayan Doshi and fellow leg-spinner Ian Salisbury. But such has been his rise to prominence that he has now forced his way into the championship side, sharing spinning duties with overseas signing Harbhajan Singh.

“That was the plan, that was what my goals were,” he told ecb.co.uk. “I knew I would be pretty much playing all the one-day cricket. I’ve had a great start.

“There have been a couple of times when Ian Salisbury has been injured which meant I started off in the championship side. I didn’t really do a great deal, I didn’t bowl too many overs, but I bowled okay.

“But then I came into the one-day stuff and bowled really well, took a couple of wickets and got my confidence up.

“And now they are picking me and Harbhajan as the spinners to play - and obviously they have picked me as a batter as well, at seven, to play in the championship side, which is an achievement. Now I just need to stay there.”

Schofield made himself into a frontline batsman after having limited opportunities to bowl

Schofield is the archetypal utility cricketer. When his bowling fell away at Lancashire, he turned himself into a batsman, working hard to ensure he got a game for the county and his ground fielding is second to none.

These extra aspects to his game are beginning to pay off and are of vital importance in the shortened format of Twenty20.

“If the batting doesn’t work out, I’ve still got my bowling and if that doesn’t work, I’ve still got my fielding, which is a big factor in the Twenty20 competition,” he said.

“The batting has been going well, but I haven’t had much of a chance in the Twenty20 to bat. I think I have only faced two or three balls.

“But with the championship side there is an opportunity for me to bat at seven and hopefully get some runs and keep everything going the way it should be.”

The way things are going for Schofield at the moment is definitely upwards and he knows what he needs to do to carry on that trend.

“My main objective has been my bowling,” he confirmed. “That is what I need to do to get back playing county cricket and maybe playing for England.

“My objective is to get my bowling back to being consistent and bowling well and doing the right things.”

Schofield took 17 wickets in the Twenty20 Cup this year

Becoming the leading wicket-taker in county cricket’s most popular tournament was a good way of proving that he has not lost the spark which resulted in him gaining two Test caps in 2000.

“This year Doshi and I have bowled very well in tandem,” he added. “I’ve been going for eight an over, which is pretty good for a spinner and fortunately I’ve been taking a lot of wickets as well.

“That was my main objective - to keep the runs down and then the wickets were a big bonus.”

Spinners have had a lot of success in Twenty20, but it is not luck that has brought Schofield his wickets, with a great deal of thought having gone into the operation.

“Just with taking the pace off the ball, you can set your fields and try to bowl to a plan,” the 28-year-old said.

“The batsmen try to hit you out of the ground and if they do try to hit you for six they need to make a good connection and get hold of the ball.

“I’ve managed to outfox a couple of the batsmen and had good control of all the deliveries I have wanted to bowl. It’s been fantastic.”

Schofield’s call-up, in the company of fellow spinner Jeremy Snape and 'Mr Twenty20' Darren Maddy, provides hope for all county cricketers who thought their chance had gone, and he believes England have a good opportunity to win the tournament.

“I don’t see why not,” he said. “We’ve had five years of playing the competition and things have gone well. There will be people who have been playing and been really successful and will just have a lot to offer.”

Seven years after making his inauspicious England debut, Schofield may just be one of them.