After an unconventional winter training regime, Liam Plunkett is ready to cement his England legacy

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, the England paceman says he wants his career to be defined by what happens next rather than what has gone before

Plunkett spent the winter bowling alone in Philadelphia (AFP/Getty Images)

For a bowler capable of hurrying up the best of batsman Liam Plunkett has taken a surprisingly slow journey to feeling part of the England set-up. Now, after establishing himself in Eoin Morgan’s one-day side, he’s in a rush to ensure that has career is defined by what happens next rather than what has gone before.

Plunkett was just 20 when he made his international one-day debut against Pakistan in Lahore as far back as December 2005. England were still basking in the glow of a famous Ashes triumph and the then Durham tyro looked like the man most likely to replace the injured Simon Jones in a fab four bowling attack comprising Matthew Hoggard, Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff.

Instead, Plunkett has spent the best part of a decade wondering what might have been.

Despite the set-backs that have blighted his career, Plunkett boarded the plane for India in fine fettle after limbering up in unconventional style for perhaps one-day cricket’s toughest tour.

“I’ve been in the US over Christmas and the New Year,” he says. “I’ve backwards and forwards there for the past nine years. I just find a space in Philadelphia and bowl on my own. There’s no-one else around but it’s just to keep me ticking over really. I’ve done it for so long I guess it sort of feels normal now.”

It’s a long-distance relationship that sees Plunkett ratcheting up the air miles on a regular basis. His journey back to England’s heart has been equally lengthy.

Back in the winter of 2006/07 Plunkett appeared to have the world at his feet.

After watching on as an unused bowler throughout an Ashes series that saw England on the wrong end of an Aussie whitewash for the first time in 86 years, Plunkett came into the one-day side and looked to the manor born – lording over Australia as England pulled off a shock victory in a Commonwealth Series that also included New Zealand. Plunkett admits to having been in awe of some of the players he was performing with and against that winter but he left Australia heavily in credit.

Liam Plunkett with his captain Eoin Morgan (OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)

It’s a measure of Plunkett’s extraordinarily in and out England career, though, that his next match in Australia involved a 16,000 mile journey via Miami, Barbados and Singapore for the final game of a seven match series in Perth in February 2011.

Before his recall in the one-day series against New Zealand two summers ago, that was Plunkett’s most recent appearance in limited overs cricket. The incoming Trevor Bayliss, however, clearly saw something he liked in the Durham man, with Plunkett’s appetite for hard work and willingness to run in and bowl as fast as he can all day long resonating with the affable Australian.

So far he has made the most of his second coming.

“When I got back to playing for England a few years ago, I just felt like I had nothing to lose,” he says. “I was the leading taker with the white ball last summer which was good and I think I might have been the summer before too. I feel like I belong in this side now.

“I think I’ve bowled quicker in the last two years than I did at the start of my career. I probably swung the ball a little bit more back in the day but with not as much control. I feel I’m more skilful as a bowler and I think a lot of that is about being more relaxed, not worrying about my game.

“To play the one-day stuff now you have to have that control no matter what pace you bowl but I’m not stressing about the game anymore, not worrying if I do bowl a wide. I’m just looking to enjoy it more now really.”

Had he been prone to bouts of angst Plunkett couldn’t have been blamed for tearing his hair out in frustration since his bow in Lahore all those years ago. Injuries and then a loss of form led to him struggling to maintain his county place with Durham in 2012. He then received a second ban for drink driving shortly before the end of that season. Plunkett, it seemed, was stuck in neutral.

A switch to Yorkshire that winter though, not only revitalised his cricket but also, ultimately, put him back firmly back on England’s radar. Now older and very much wiser, the most senior member of England’s touring party in India says the pups in perhaps the most exciting England side in history are helping him to maintain his youthful enthusiasm.

Liam Plunkett celebrates after hitting a six to salvage a draw for England against Sri Lanka (Getty)

“In terms of how much enjoyment you get playing for this side it’s like being back in an academy team at Yorkshire or Durham,” he says. “Everyone is positive, everyone wants to do well and everyone is excited about the way the team plays and goes about its business. It’s enjoyable but everyone is there to win and we back ourselves to do it, no matter who we’re playing against and no matter where we’re playing.

“It’s the best England team I’ve been involved with for sure. In terms of who we’ve beaten and the scores we’ve racked up and defended then it is definitely.”

Plunkett will be 34 by the time the next World Cup rolls around in 2019 but he’s certainly not discounting a second appearance in the tournament, 12 years after his first.

“I’ve looked after my body better in the last couple of years,” he says. “I’m really careful with what I eat and that has aided my recovery from injuries, no doubt about that. Look at how quick Mitchell Johnson was bowling when he was 33. I’m still 31 and I want to keep playing and improving. I still feel like I can improve and maybe even get quicker. I’ve been clocked at 95 (mph) but I would love to top that one day.”

It has taken Plunkett a while to get here – now he, like this England side – is intent on moving forward at breakneck speed.