DARRYL Brown has a double aim after signing as Horspath's overseas player for the 2018 season. The 35-year-old South African all-rounder brings a wealth of experience to the Recreation Ground, having played 106 first-class games in his homeland. Now he is keen to make an impact with Horspath in the Home Counties Premier League and also assist the progression of the club's players. "I would like to make a positive contribution on the field and help the guys with their games, which in the long term will be a benefit to the club," he said. "I am an all-rounder - probably like a medium-pacer that seams and swings the ball. In terms of batting I am not someone that hits the ball out of the park. I can hit sixes, but I am not a smasher." After impressing for United CC in East London, Darryl went on to enjoy a 13-year first-class career for Border and a franchise called Warriors, the name used for the combined Border and Eastern Province sides. He was quick to make his mark on his debut. Batting at No 10 with Border 107-8 against Boland at East London he hit an unbeaten 77, sharing in an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 141 with Gareth von Hoesslin. "It was my first game and we were in trouble," he recalled. "Somehow I had got to bat at ten whereas in the one-day game on the Sunday I batted at five. "I think the coach just saw me as a bowler because I had been doing well in club cricket and getting lots of wickets." Darryl went on to show he was equally adept with bat and ball. He scored 3,728 first-class runs at an average of 26.25 with two centuries and 21 fifties, while picking up 202 wickets at an average of 26.24 with best figures of 6-32. He also played 85 List A games, making 1,956 runs at an average of 33.15, and taking 86 wickets at 28.73. "We won two 50-over trophies and one year I was leading wicket-taker in the competition," said Darryl, who played alongside the likes of Ashwell Prince, Makhaya Ntini and Rory Kleinveldt . He also has experience of playing in the UK going back to 2005, having had seasons with Trowbridge, Leadgate in Durham and Edinburgh Academical, before spending seven years in Northern Ireland with Fox Lodge and Lisburn. His last visit to these shores saw him play for Cleator Moor in Cumbria. "There are so many highlights," he said. "It's just the different people you meet and the different experiences you have. I just enjoyed it and had a good time." Having called time on his first-class career last June, he returned to club cricket, before moving to live at Chesham at the end of the year with his wife and daughter. "I played a bit in South Africa over the summer from October to December back with United," he said. "It's a community-based club. "Horspath is like that and the two clubs I played for in Ireland are family-based, so it will be interesting. It has been really good what I have seen of the club so far." Horspath captain Will Eason is delighted to have Darryl on board. He said: "I think particularly after the second half of last season when we were without Rameez and Ajmal, not having a high-quality player in the side it was important that we got someone in this season of that sort of calibre. "With Darryl being a genuine all-rounder he can influence the game. He is vastly experienced and has a really good first-class and List A record as well. He will make a huge difference to the side. "He has settled into the club really nicely. He didn't play on Sunday because he wasn't eligible, but he joined in the warm-up and was part of the changing room as well and was constructive with his thoughts both pre and post-match. "The guys have taken to him really well and the members have as well, so I think we have been very fortunate." Will believes Darryl will prove a real asset in more ways than one. "I think reading between the lines within his first-class career he is someone who is very reliable within the side. At training he gives 110 per cent and is willing to give advice and help people in terms of their role within the club and help improve the players we have here which is fantastic. "Playing pro cricket, which is really what he has always done, he has played some very good cricket with 100 first-class games. It is important the guys take on anything he tells them because he is here to help them."
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