IN the latest in his series of features about his Worcestershire teammates, county opener Ollie Westbury has written about Pat Brown, one of the rising stars of the English game.

He said: "In the last few years Pat Brown has become quite a celebrity around Worcester. After achieving a breakthrough season in 2018 his career has gone from strength to strength.

"I have personally known Browny for a long time now. We were on the academy together back in 2016 before we both moved into the senior squad permanently.

"For those close to him it will come of no great surprise to see Pat achieve so much success in recent times. He is a very dedicated individual that will leave no stone unturned when it comes to his pre-match preparation and practice.

I wanted to start by asking him about the ‘knuckle ball’ which has helped to bring him so much of his career success. Surprisingly, he said that he bowled this delivery a long time before he burst on the scenes with it, yet in those days, he had not quite mastered the technique.

"However, through constant practise and repetition he then figured it out. He suggested there was no lightning bolt moment for him but over time the delivery began to feel more natural. Even to this day he argues that he has not fully mastered it.

"When he had a big injury lay off in the winter of 2018 he said he began the following summer as though he had “forgotten how to bowl it” and as a result, he had to re-teach it to himself.

"Due to his success in his first two seasons of the T20 Blast, he was awarded with a call up for England for the tour to New Zealand.

"Browny said it was a weird experience at first because he had never played any representative cricket up to that point and the squad consisted of three players from the North group of the T20 Blast and the rest coming from the South group.

"Out of the whole squad he got on particularly well with David Malan and Jonny Bairstow who are both vastly experienced members of the England squad.

"Coming off the back of a World Cup win the previous summer, I asked Browny what the environment was like inside the England dressing room.

"He explained that there was a “real culture within the group”. He also mentioned that practice was often optional and player led with each individual player taking responsibility for their own game.

"Pat has massive self-belief, outside noise appears to be irrelevant to him. He does what he feels is necessary to succeed and no amount of pressure will make him change.

"Browny has turned himself into one of the most talked about bowlers on the white ball circuit. His character and mental strength allow him to be successful but his desire and drive to continue to improve will show that this is just the beginning for him."

For the full piece on pat Brown, and for more of Ollie Westbury's posts, go to www.openingpear.com