Blackie looms large

Has an England side ever contained three Somerset players? Ian Blackwell's England debut in the ICC Champions Trophy ensured that one now has. For although he was imported from Derbyshire, Blackwell is Somerset through and through. The club's history is full of hard-hitting, plain speaking, fantastically entertaining bludgeoners: Arthur Wellard, Sammy Woods, Ian Botham, Viv Richards. Blackwell is very much in this tradition.

'Blackie', as he is rather unimaginatively called (Henry Blofeld memorably described him as resembling a weary farm-hand resting upon his plough) has quickly become a firm favourite at Taunton, not just for the style with which he plays, but for the regularity with which he scores runs. And now, all of a sudden, he is in the England squad - preferred to the likes of Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash - and in with a great chance of winning a place in the World Cup team.

Certainly 24-year-old Blackwell did his international prospects no harm at all with a typically belligerent 53-ball 86 in the frenetic Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy semi-final against Kent in front of the television cameras at Taunton, though his Final performance at Lord's was a little anonymous. "The semi-final was probably the highlight of my career to date," Blackwell reflects. "It was a wonderful day and one of the most amazing victories. It has really spurred me on. I want more of those big days."

Maybe it is a reflection of his fitness that the highest of all his first-class centuries - and he has scored seven in the last 18 months - is just 122. Blackwell is conscious of the potential media reaction to his weight. He is, indisputably, a big lad, but has slimmed down a great deal, "almost a stone" he says, and improved his fitness immeasurably. The thought of a side including Blackwell, Marcus Trescothick, Robert Key, Flintoff and perhaps Jimmy Ormond may have catering staff ordering the slaughter of extra livestock in an attempt to satiate their appetites, but it is fitness that counts. "I saw what happened to Flintoff and I know that the media will use these things against you," he admits. "They'll take the mickey if things don't go well, whether it is relevant or not.

"It's an on-going process and something I'm aware of. I lost quite a bit of weight during the winter through diet and exercise but it's been harder during the season; we're away from home and we have to eat in hotels every night so it has been hard to stick to the routine. It's a lifestyle thing," he says.

"He's got some way to go there," Somerset coach Kevin Shine concedes, "but he knows that and he wants to do the work. Our fitness instructor is attached to him at the hip and he will be forced to keep up the good work at the National Academy. He's done well but he must do more. It's not an option; he will be forced to."

It was a former Somerset man who spotted Blackwell's enormous potential. "Andy Hayhurst joined Derby in a coaching role and told me I had the potential to bat in the top four," Blackwell recalls. "I guess I was still perceived as a spinner who could bat a bit, but I always thought I could be a top-line batsman."

He hit a classy 97 in 1999 for Derbyshire in a one-day league game against Glamorgan to show his enormous potential but, unhappy at a turbulent club, he turned down the offer of a new contract at the end of that season. "Something like 16 of us left for one reason or another, and I'd have to say that I've no regrets at all," he says candidly. "The atmosphere at Taunton could not be more different. It was a positive environment. As soon as I arrived I felt at home and the dressing-room welcomed me."

Dominic Cork, Derbyshire captain then as now, told The Cricketer at the time that Blackwell was the only one of the leavers that he regretted losing. "Well he may say that," Blackwell counters, "but he was the guy in charge so he was the guy who had the biggest say on the atmosphere. He could have changed it and made it a more friendly and supportive place. It is flattering to hear that he said that, but he made it a dead-end county. There was a big divide there between the first and second team and a stand-offish approach from the senior players.

"Coming to Somerset was the best thing I ever did. It's a great time to be here too," he continues. "We've an exciting young side and we're contesting Lord's Finals."

Certainly Blackwell has thrived in a winning team, but this season, with Somerset suffering something of a hangover following their heady 2001, he has endured a slightly different experience. "Sometimes when you're losing you look for problems that aren't there," he explains. "At the start of the season I was found out a bit," he admits. "I was caught playing away from my body, and on green pitches with the ball moving around that is going to cause problems. I've tried to play with my hands much nearer my body and I play straight pretty naturally."

This could have been Trescothick talking just two or three years ago. The comparisons are obvious, from the power of shot and the uncomplicated technique to the build. Blackwell is not in Trescothick's class yet, but he is going in the right direction and now that he is part of the England set-up, he will benefit from the knowledge of Duncan Fletcher and Co.

"I've been able to learn a lot from watching how the likes of Marcus and Peter Bowler go about things. Peter has been particularly helpful with his advice about batting for long periods and how to concentrate. I know that I need to treat each ball on its merits and Peter has helped with the mental side of my game.

"Kevin Shine has always said he is keen not to coach the aggression out of me. He thinks it is my greatest strength and that approach suits me. Of course that doesn't mean attacking recklessly," Blackwell, who hit England's Matthew Hoggard for 28 in an over earlier this summer, explains.

Shine confirms this analysis. "I've seen naturally aggressive, hugely talented players coached away from their natural game. Ian is a really exciting prospect, with a fantastic amount of natural ability and the character to develop it."

And he has aspirations. "I'd love to captain at some stage," Blackwell admits. "I've learnt a lot under Jamie Cox and I'm sure that my time at the Academy will help me develop further. Dermot Reeve has also been very supportive. He has taken every opportunity to stake my claim for an England place, and was a great positive influence as a coach."

Although aware of the lack of international recognition given to Somerset players through the years, Blackwell believes that times have changed. "Robbie Turner has been incredibly unlucky, he really should have been given a chance. But under David Graveney and with Andy Caddick and Trescothick in the side I think things have improved."

Ironically, given how Turner and before him Graham Rose failed to make an impression on national selectors, some feel that Blackwell has been picked slightly too early. He admits that he had not given much thought to a senior call-up. "I hadn't given the ICC Champions Trophy a second thought so I wasn't disappointed not to be in the original team. It was only when other people started to say bad luck that I thought about it," he confesses.

"It's a huge step forward. I met Rod Marsh. He was a straight talking guy and he made it clear that he does not see me as just a one-day player. I'm really looking forward to getting out to the Academy and everything else is a bonus."

But he had already caught the eye of the selectors with four centuries, including two in a match against Northamptonshire, in the 2001 season, with many thinking him unlucky not to make the Academy squad last winter.

"I was invited up to Edgbaston for the Second Test against Sri Lanka with Matt Bulbeck to help out with 12th man duties and get a feel of the atmosphere," Blackwell reveals. "We had a short chat with Duncan Fletcher and he let us know the sort of things expected of us."

He is lucky at Somerset to have former left-arm spinner Peter Robinson to turn to for advice, but although Blackwell finds the presence of Robinson, and indeed Vic Marks, the chairman of the cricket committee, useful, he feels the game has changed a lot.

"I think spin bowling has changed a great deal," he continues. "Robinson used to give the ball loads of flight but we just can't do that anymore. Batsmen are more aggressive and we'd be slaughtered if we tried to do that. The game has changed."

As to adding a 'mystery' ball to his armoury, Blackwell admits it is not imminent. "I know how the likes of Saqlain bowl the ball that turns the other way but I'm a long way from being able to do that. It is the control of some of those guys that amazes me and I've certainly not mastered it yet."

"He's an underrated bowler," Shine, who has recently received advice on spin bowling coaching from John Bracewell and Terry Jenner, says with feeling. "He's still looking to develop, but he surprises people with his control and, when he gets the opportunity, the revolutions he puts on the ball. He's very patient and has bowled brilliant spells to close down an end for us."

Though a little simplistic, this is the primary role of Ashley Giles in the national team; to provide variety and tie down an end. Blackwell can fulfil that function. "I see my role as keeping it tight with some subtle variation," he reasons. "We've a good seam attack at Somerset. The pitch at Taunton couldn't be better. It's a great place to learn. But, while it is a good place to bat, the small boundaries and flat track also make it a hard place to bowl."

And if he can give it with the bat, he may have to learn to take it too. His bowling was murdered by Nottinghamshire's Kevin Pietersen, a man with whom he may well be vying for an international place within a couple of years, in the Norwich Union League, and despite a career-best haul of five for 49 against Hampshire he is not, at present, near a Test place. David Graveney, who knows a thing or two about left-arm spin, is yet to be convinced by his bowling, but the comparison with Trescothick is again interesting.

Trescothick was called into the international one-day side as a replacement, and performed so well that he made himself impossible to ignore for the Tests. Blackwell has the opportunity to follow suit and, if he is to be successful, will provide wonderful entertainment en route.

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