Left-arm seamer pulled out of County Championship fixture vs Middlesex on third morning
“This has been the dream for a long time,” Payne told Gloucestershire’s in-house channels at Cheltenham before leaving their County Championship game against Middlesex to link up with the new squad in Cardiff. “I’m not sure words can describe how I’m feeling – I’m ecstatic, and I can’t stop smiling. It’s everything everyone plays for, so to finally get that call is everything I ever wanted.”
While a handful of players and support staff were reached last night, Payne was among those who only found out on Wednesday morning. “I had a missed call and a message on WhatsApp,” he explained. “I was down at breakfast and left my phone in the hotel room, so I came back and saw that.
“The message said, ‘it’s Chris Silverwood, can you give me a call?’ Instantly, my heart was kind of racing and excited, thinking, ‘what’s this going to be?’ I tried to stay cool [and] thought I’d do my teeth and get ready to go to the ground and then give him a call. In the car he was ringing me again so I took the call again and he said can I join him down in Cardiff?
“My initial reaction was a bit confused and I was thinking, ‘I’m in the middle of the game – what does this mean?’ [But] with replacements being allowed, it means that Dom [Goodman] could come in for me today so I could concentrate on going down and joining them.
“I had absolutely no idea [about the outbreak]. Chris asked if I’d heard anything and honestly, I was completely oblivious to what was going on. [I’m] just thankful for the opportunity.”
Payne was a regular for England at Under-19 level between 2009 and 2010 but has never been called up by the England Lions, and is one of four players in the new-look ODI squad – along with Jake Ball, Briggs and Simpson – who missed out on the 55-man training squad named at the start of the 2020 summer.
“To get the call from Chris Silverwood was the last thing I thought would happen this morning, but just the most amazing news for me. [I’m] completely ecstatic and can’t wait to get down there.”
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98