[Grammar] It was of no use for him/it was no use to him?

[Aamir Tariq]

Here is a situation.

He was playing domestic cricket, but it was not benefiting him, because he was under a ban by the cricket board. So, no matter how well he performed, he wouldn't get a chance to play international cricket for his national team.

Which one of the following is grammatical as well as natural?

1. He said he was playing cricket in the domestic circuit but it was of no use for him.
2. He said he was playing cricket in the domestic circuit but it was of no use to him.
   

Please tell me about ​a better and ​more natural way to ​say the same thing.

Regards,
Aamir the Global Citizen

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Here is a situation.

He was playing domestic cricket​, but it was not ​benefiting him, because he was under a ban by the cricket board. So, no mat​ter how well he performed​, he wouldn't get a chance to play international cricket for his national ​team.

Which one of the following is grammatical as well as natural​?

1. He said he was playing cricket in the domestic circuit but it was of no use for him. ​Wrong.
2. He said he was playing cricket in the domestic circuit but it was of no use to him. ​Right.

Please tell me about ​a better and ​more natural way to ​say the same thing.

Regards​,
Aamir the Global Citizen

Your second version is good - grammatical and natural.

In the US, we would usually say "on" instead of "in." I don't know whether they would in the UK.

 

[Aamir Tariq]

Your second version is good - grammatical and natural.

In the US, we would usually say "on" instead of "in." I don't know whether they would in the UK.

Are you referring to the phrase I used when I said "he was playing cricket in the domestic circuit"? I know that on is used when we say he/she is on the team, and I guess the same is the case with British English when we talk about someone who is part of the team.

But here in this case I used "in the domestic circuit" which is different from being on a team. I don't know either if British people use "in" or "on" in this case.