CRAIG CACHOPA looks set to be the next Llamas star to sign a professional contract after making his Sussex Sharks debut on Friday night.
Reigate Priory's overseas batsman admitted his first team bow for Sussex was "completely unexpected" in his first season in England, believing it would take him several years to break into county cricket.
But after a number of eye-catching performances for the second team, Cachopa, 22, was told he would be playing in the NatWest T20 Blast fixture against Kent on Friday night but was unable to prevent the Sharks falling to a three-run defeat.
The Kiwi came to the crease with Sussex struggling at 14-2 and while he survived a few overs and kept the scoreboard ticking over with 11 runs from 14 balls, he was unable to score a boundary and was dismissed when he was bamboozled by a tricky delivery from Kent's Fabian Cowdrey.
"I knew Chris Nash and Luke Wright from playing for Auckland," Cachopa explained. "They heard I was coming over to England to play for Reigate and they said Brighton was just down the road and I should keep myself busy by playing for the Sussex seconds.
"To play county cricket over here was a long term dream, in three or four years' time I hoped I'd be there, so to get that offered now was completely unexpected."
Sussex are expected to offer Cachopa a contract this week, and with Priory opener Richie Oliver already having earned himself a professional contract at Worcestershire this season, and Surrey's in-form Jason Roy scoring a half-century for the Llamas on Saturday, it means the Surrey Championship club could soon have three first team county cricketers on the books.
"It shows what a good club Reigate is," Cachopa said. "We were missing Richie on Saturday, but having someone like Jason Roy replace him isn't bad is it?
"If it works out at Sussex then I'm hoping to move down to Brighton but I will still come up and play for Reigate when I can. It's my home club here and it's where all my friends are."
And Cachopa, who is a former New Zealand U19s captain, has ambitions of making his 50-over and County Championship debuts before the end of the campaign.
"Certainly my career statistics would show I actually play better in the longer formats," he said. "I'd love to play the longer formats as well, but it's up to the coaches so we'll just wait and see."
