Blizzard blows home from Bangladesh

On a list of cricket's most glamorous destinations, Bangladesh doesn't rank highly - Andrew Strauss didn't even bother going there for England's Test tour this year. But fringe first-class players go where the opportunities arise and for Aiden Blizzard over the past month, that has meant domestic cricket in Dhaka.

Even by the standards of journeymen Australian players, it was an unusual move. But Blizzard, who did not have his contract with Victoria renewed this month and has been snapped up by South Australia, relished the chance to learn in unfamiliar conditions, even if there were some problems during his stint with Rajshahi Division.

"The pre-match addresses were interesting, because they weren't in English," Blizzard told Cricinfo. "I had to use my own game-plan because I didn't know what our actual game-plan was. They understood that. I missed a training session too - I missed the team bus because I didn't know it was on."

Despite the language barrier, he finished the National Cricket League Twenty20 competition as the fourth-leading run scorer and helped his team win the final. He was one of a handful of foreign players in the league, along with a couple of South Africans and a few Sri Lankans including Nuwan Zoysa.

The slow, low surfaces provided an added challenge for Blizzard, who was recruited after a successful appearance in the Port City Cricket League, which featured Bangladesh teams and was played in Dubai. While the big bucks were flying around at the IPL, Blizzard was taking a chance that was about more than money.

"It was more about the opportunity and the experience," he said. "I really struggled to get many first-class games here in Australia, so if the opportunity came to play in a tournament I was jumping at it.

"If the opportunity arises next year, I'll definitely put my hand up to go and play. It did clash with the IPL, so fingers crossed I can get a crack in the IPL, but if the opportunity does arise again I'll grab it with both hands. It was a great experience."

A week after battling traffic in Dhaka, Blizzard was back home in Melbourne, preparing to pack up his possessions and move to Adelaide to join the Redbacks. Like the Bangladesh deal, it was a decision based on opportunity: he had managed only one innings in two first-class games during his three seasons as a fully contracted Victoria batsman.

There had been a couple of remarkable Twenty20 performances - twice in three years he was Man of the Match in the Big Bash final - but Blizzard wanted to play four-day cricket. When Cricket Victoria didn't offer him a first-round deal for next summer, he made the choice to join his former team-mate Michael Klinger, who is the newly appointed captain of South Australia.

"Michael Klinger has been a close friend of mine since I got to Victoria," Blizzard said. "I had a good chat to him about moving before the start of last season, not necessarily to South Australia, but just how it was for him. He had a big influence on my decision to go to South Australia.

"I'm really looking forward to a fresh start. I was pigeon-holed here as a slogger and South Australia were quick to stress that they didn't see me as a slogger and they wanted to give me an opportunity to play in all three forms. I'm looking forward to getting that opportunity. Whether it's at the start of the season or the middle is probably up to me, but it should be a great experience."

It will mean giving up the chance to play in the Champions League Twenty20 this year, where he would have been a key man for Victoria. But at 25, Blizzard knew he had to give himself the best chance of fulfilling his potential. Just like Rajshahi, it was another opportunity too good to pass up. At least this time he'll understand the team's game-plan.