Hoffman’s tale takes him from Queensland to Scotland

CRICKET: Growing up in Australia, Paul Hoffmann could only dream of playing in the World Cup. On Wednesday, that dream will come true but not in the way he imagined.

The 37-year-old seamer will be playing for his adopted Scotland against the country of his birth.

“I’d been playing cricket in Australia up to the age of 26 but it wasn’t so much a career as a pastime,” said Hoffmann who left Queensland behind when he was 26 to go travelling.

“My only ambition was to find a job, buy a house, settle down and get married. But something drew me to Scotland, and I’ve been here ever since.”

He arrived in Scotland with cricket in his blood having played state cricket in Sydney.

“In the summer of 1995 I played some league cricket in Wales,” Hoffmann told The Scotsman newspaper.

“My sister was travelling at the time, so one afternoon we were bored, sitting around, and I just said we should go for a drive up to Scotland and I remember saying to my sister: ‘I wonder if they play cricket here.’

“I was fascinated by Edinburgh, the Highlands and Loch Ness. That was somewhere I desperately wanted to see.”

Briefly back in Australia, Hoffmann contacted a league club in Scotland, Uddingston. To his surprise he got an offer back in the post.

“It was 100 pounds a week. Now I’ve pretty much turned full circle, from being a true-blue, born-and-bred Aussie to being ten years in Scotland with plenty to look forward to in cricket, work and in marriage.”

Hoffmann came across the likes of current Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath in grade cricket in Sydney.

He cherishes the memories.

“At schoolboy level, Adam Gilchrist was the first ever batsman to hit me for a six,” said Hoffmann who has 15 ODI wickets since his 3-22 debut against Pakistan last June.

“In ‘94, I was playing for the New South Wales 2nd XI and Ricky Ponting was on the other side, with the Australian Cricket Academy. I had him dropped at second slip.

“Glenn McGrath and I had opened the bowling together in a pre-season game at Sydney University. He was a real gentleman and I remember him giving me some insoles when I struggled with shin splints.”

He also played against Australian World Cup batsman Mike Hussey in a Scottish League match.

“Hussey was struggling to adjust to the slow wickets and only made 19, getting out to our 52-year-old, left-arm spinner.”

BASSETERRE, St Kitts, Tuesday (AFP)