It’s a sad time for Rana Naved-ul-Hasan.
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Somewhere in Pakistan right now, the 39-year-old ‘People’s Mullet’ is coming to terms with the fact that he’s no longer the incumbent cult hero of the Hobart Hurricanes – and it’s not through any fault of his own.
An unknown to most Tasmanian cricket fans at the time of his signing, Barbados-born Jofra Archer has quickly emerged as a fan favourite and more importantly, the Hurricanes’ go-to paceman at the death.
Arriving as a replacement for English Test bowler Tom Curran, the 22-year-old collected an economical 2-17 in his side’s opening fixture against Melbourne Renegades and then took 3-15 to secure a tight win over the Adelaide Strikers.
He was pipped to man of the match honours by a splendid 96 from D’Arcy Short, but Archer says he is just happy to be playing in the tournament at all.
“I think I’m probably the only overseas player in the tournament that hasn’t played any international cricket so I’m very grateful to be given a chance and to show them why they chose me,” Archer told The Examiner.
“If I had my choice I would have been here earlier … they’re a great bunch of guys and it’s not too hard to fit in, everyone has the same goal and everyone wants to win.
“The Hurricanes haven’t done so great the last couple of years so I’m just glad that we look like we’re going places so hopefully we can get a finals spot.”
Together with Short, Archer has been a crucial part of the Hurricanes’ rise up the BBL ladder, which has seen them win five of their past six games - including four by 10 runs or less.
While the Hurricanes embody Archer’s short-term goals, the Sussex paceman harbours long-term ambitions of lining up for England.
A lengthy qualification procedure means he won’t become eligible for national selection until 2022, but Archer says he is prepared to wait it out.
“That’s the goal really, I’ve started a qualification process to play for them, so hopefully they can bring the qualification period back to four instead of seven years.
“But I’m prepared to wait until whenever.”