Written by Ian Callender for Sunday Life.
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART
CIYMS are on the look-out for another Irish-qualified player after Ireland international Max Sorensen told them “home is where the heart is”.
The 30-year-old South African-born all-rounder signed a three-year contract with the Belmont club in October but, four months before the start of the new season, he has changed his mind and decided to stay at The Hills, his only club since moving to Ireland in 2008.
“I can’t really commit to it,” Sorensen told me yesterday. “After thinking about it long and hard, it was going to be tough. The Hills is my club, I’m with my mates every week and playing for CIYMS just didn’t feel right.
Halfway through the season it could have become tough with all the travelling. The money was the only attraction when I signed, so I told CI my heart wouldn’t be totally in it.
“The Hills have done a lot for me over the last eight years, I have an extremely strong tie and loyalty to them. That’s the way I feel, I enjoy playing for them, they are a great club. It’s hard for me to leave, so don’t think I’ll be leaving now.
“Home is where the heart is and I’m happiest when I’m playing at The Hills
“CIYMS are obviously disappointed but I’m grateful that things have ended on a good note.”
Revealingly, Sorensen also said he was given no encouragement that he would be welcomed into the Northern Knights squad if he had moved.
“I spoke to Kyle McCallan (chairman of selectors) before I had confirmed the move telling him I would be keen to play for the Knights but he said he didn’t want ‘blow-ins’, staying for a year and then going, so that was another factor in my decision not to move.”
Sorensen’s first target is to get a regular place in the Ireland team – he played in only six of the 30 internationals last year – starting this month in Australia when Ireland resume their Intercontinental Cup campaign against Papua New Guinea and then make the World Twenty20 squad that plays in India in March.
