By Bibhash Dash
India international Varun Aaron has hailed the support of his Durham team-mates after successfully coming through a “challenging” taster of LV= County Championship cricket.
Fast bowler Aaron played the final two games of Durham’s season after replacing John Hastings as the county’s overseas player.
The 24-year-old took three wickets in his two games – against Northamptonshire and Warwickshire respectively – as Durham finished fifth in Division One.
Aaron’s bowling had to play second fiddle to the fireworks produced by Chris Rushworth, who grabbed 15 wickets in a single day’s play against Northamptonshire, but he was happy to be part of the overall experience.
“It’s a good experience being exposed to different conditions,” Aaron exclusively told ecb.co.uk.“It gives a cricketer different challenges.
“I only played in the County Championship, but from what I saw, the schedule is very challenging because you have one-dayers and T20s in between.
“It’s very demanding on the body to change between formats.
"I turned up for the two games, and I had to go out there and do my job. But I really enjoyed bowling on English pitches."
While Aaron admits the English weather made warming up a challenge in itself, he credited his Durham team-mates for helping ease the move into county cricket.
“I just turned up for two games but there wasn’t any advice as such,” he added. “I just had to go out and do my job.
“It was a little cold, but I enjoy cold so it wasn’t too much of a problem – except when it came to getting warmed up in the morning, which took a little bit of extra time!
“But it’s a very relaxed atmosphere and that’s how it is in India as well.
“The guys made me feel at home. I couldn’t see any negativity in the dressing room.
“They’re a great bunch of guys. The team spirit was great, and everybody got along with each other, which was great to be a part of.”