Former Proteas spinner Simon Harmer starred with bat and ball, as Essex beat Worcestershire in Sunday’s T20 Blast final at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

Needing two runs off the final delivery to clinch the title for Essex, captain Harmer struck a full delivery from former Proteas seamer Wayne Parnell through the off-side for four. The 30-year-old Harmer was later named Player of the Match on the back of three key wickets and a vital 18 not out.

Parnell and Harmer had played key roles in semi-final victories over Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire earlier in the day.

Earlier this month, Harmer expressed ambition to play for England. He played five Tests in 2015 before pursuing a career with Essex in county cricket – and was recently retained by the Jozi Stars for the 2019 edition of the Mzansi Super League.

‘I know that I’m good enough to play for England, but I think that there would be a lot of difficult decisions to make if my name was to be in the hat,’ he said.

‘But I do want to play international cricket. I understand that it’s a long shot, and it’s maybe a little bit unrealistic, but I feel like you’ve got to have goals and dreams. I’m going to keep pushing myself. If it happens and things work out – happy days.’

He took more first-class wickets than any other bowler in 2018. Playing for Essex and the Warriors, Harmer took 106 wickets in 24 matches to beat second-placed Mohammad Abbas, third-placed Duanne Olivier and fourth-placed Morne Morkel.

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