FAST forward to January 2018 and it is not too much of a stretch to imagine Mason Crane returning to the Sydney Cricket Ground for the final match of the next Ashes series.

For the last 20 years, Hampshire have given numerous Australians the opportunity to practise in English conditions; not least Shane Warne, whose 2005 Ashes heroics inspired Crane to take up the art as an eight year-old.

But in recent years Australian’s state sides have been less keen on fielding overseas players - until now.

With the Sheffield Shield a third of the size of the Specsavers County Championship, Aussie states usually maximise the chance to progress their own homegrown talent.

But this week Crane became the first Englishman since William Caffyn in the 1860s and the first overseas player since Pakistan legend Imran Khan in 1985, to play for New South Wales.

He ended a successful winter with Gordon CC, which featured three seven-fors in first-grade cricket (the highest level of club cricket in Australia), by taking match figures of 5-116 - the third-best analysis of his career.

Mason Sidney Crane’s middle name is particularly apposite, given the narrative of his remarkable winter.

To put his debut at the SCG in context, Warne was 21 years, five months when he made his Sheffield Shield bow for Victoria in February 1991.

The greatest leg-spinner of them all did not take his 50th first-class wicket until he was 23, six months before the Ball of the Century, his unforgettable first Ashes delivery, at Old Trafford in June 1993.

Crane reached that milestone when he took the final South Australia wicket on Friday - and he has only been out of his teens for three weeks.

He impressed with a Warne-like spell of 7-0-20-2, in which he dismissed two top-six batsmen in Callum Ferguson and Jake Lehmann, on the penultimate day of New South Wales’ eight-wicket win against South Australia.

Writing in The Australian, Will Swanton chronicled it thus: “Crane’s 29-minute burst at the SCG on Thursday evening finished with a fizzing final over when five NSW fielders were in catching positions, when the ball was leaping past the outside edge, when the Blues were oohing and ahhing, when Crane was jumping out of his skin, when the floodlights were on, when the spotlight was on a young Englishman, when he may as well have been using his fast-twitch fingers for the piano or violin.”

Crane told the same newspaper: “I’ll be honest with you, I can’t believe I’m here.

“There are some grounds in the world you want to tick off and to be here now, what an incredible venue. What an honour.”

Crane added that he does not expect to play in the 2017/18 Ashes series.

“The last thing I want is to play too early, not do great and then not get another look-in for a few years," he said.

But Crane is not far away.

Darren Flint, Hampshire’s spin coach, has seen his progress first-hand over the last five years, since he was recommended to the county by his Lancing College coach Raj Maru.

“In terms of his technique, he’s not far off the finished article,” says Flint.

“There are nuances he’ll learn but he’s defeating people through the air, not just off the pitch, and that’s an amazing skill, the sign of a high-class bowler.

“He’s the type of character who relishes a challenge so he would have embraced the opportunity to play in that arena.

“They play their cricket tough out there but he would have backed himself to do well.

“The wickets out there are more bouncy and turn a lot for wrist spinners - ideal for someone like him who gives it a rip.

“He would have known the South Australia batsmen would go after him, but backed himself to succeed.

“His self-belief and confidence is an amazing trait. If he’s being hit he will still back himself, he’s very resilient.”

Crane’s progress has accelerated under the watchful eye of Stuart MacGill, the New South Wales leg-spin legend who played 44 Tests  for Australia (it would have been many more had he played in a different era to Warne).

“It’s been a wonderful thing for him to pick his brains,” continued Flint, who first worked with Crane thanks to the backing of the Brian Johnston Memorial Trust.

“I’ve been in contact to make sure he’s ok but Mason is quite an independent guy and most of his skill set is well founded.

“I try to get all the guys I work with to a place where they are self-sufficient with their bowling.

“Mason’s in a really good place. He knows the likes of Raj and myself are only a phone call away but his technique has been well honed for a long time.

“The googly, for example, is a difficult skill to master but he’s had that for a long time.

“He’s in a place now where he can just focus on the batsmen he’s bowling against and the plans he has for them."

With New South Wales' spin twins Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe in India with Australia, Crane stepped into the breach.

He took 2-50 from 9.1 overs in South Australia’s first innings; Tom Cooper and Alex Carey, batsmen six and seven, were both caught by Nic Maddinson.

Carey was given a fortunate escape when Crane dropped a chance off his own bowling.

But after reaching fifty with a six against him, the left-hander was out attempting a repeat.

Crane also claimed the last South Australia wicket by dismissing left-hander Carey again, to finish with 3-66 from 18.1 overs in the third innings.

“He'll have quickly worked out the right pace to bowl to get the most turn,” said Flint, who works long days combining the family business (flintandflintflooring.co.uk) with coaching the next wave of Hampshire spinners.

“Mason would have taken the chance to watch [24 year-old Australian leg-spinner] Adam Zampa and looked at the pace he was bowling as well," he continued.

“The spinners who make it are always the clever ones who work things out for themselves.

“Mason is very good at that, as is [Hampshire off-spinner] Brad Taylor.

“He would have gone defensive first up as the Aussies always back themselves to hit big.

“But the conditions out there would have suited him and been especially dry at the end of the Australian season.

“It was also good for him to be playing in such a good side. Having the likes of Pat Cummins, Trent Copeland and Doug Bollinger making early inroads would have helped a lot.”

Crane will be playing in county cricket's South v North one-day series in the UAE next week.