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‘I earned my opportunity’ – Connolly reflects on whirlwind Test debut ahead of Shield return


After a whirlwind period abroad, where he made his Test debut and opened in the Champions Trophy semi-final against India, allrounder Cooper Connolly is back in his home comforts of the WACA as Western Australia’s dreams of a historic fourth straight Sheffield Shield title go on the line against Victoria.

Ahead of the last round of the season, WA sit fourth but just 2.37 points behind second-placed Queensland in the race to play South Australia in the final starting on March 26. Almost two points behind WA, Victoria are also a mathematical chance to qualify.

WA will need to beat Victoria and also rely on both Queensland and New South Wales not claiming victories in their respective matches. Their bid to become the first team to win four straight titles in the six-team era – since Tasmania joined the competition in 1977-78 – does look forlorn in what has been a tough season for a team that has battled inconsistency, injuries and unavailability.

The mercurial Connolly is hoping to give WA a spark in what will be his first Shield match since October. “Always love coming back to play for WA,” he told reporters on Friday. “I actually haven’t played many Shield games, but I’m looking forward to getting around the boys again.

“Just playing some cricket back at home will be nice and hopefully some results go our way and we can play a Shield final.”

He played in an Australia A match against India A before fracturing his hand in an ODI against Pakistan in Perth after he was struck by quick Mohammad Hasnain. Connolly recovered in time for the BBL, where he played a starring role for Perth Scorchers and was named player of the tournament alongside Glenn Maxwell – an x-factor type of player he has been likened to.

Connolly’s BBL form helped him gain selection on the Sri Lanka tour, ahead of Maxwell, and he made his debut in the second Test. With just four first-class matches to his name, there were some eyebrows raised and Connolly had a tough initiation after throwing his wicket away on 4 batting at No.8 while his left-arm spin proved ineffective and he only bowled five overs across two innings.

But Connolly soaked in the experience and the opportunity to learn from his teammates, especially stand-in skipper Steven Smith. “Just taking in his knowledge and seeing what I guess worked for me,” he said. “Just learning as much as I could, embracing it and having fun.

“I felt like it wasn’t really a surprise [making his Test debut]. I felt like if I was going to play, I earned my opportunity. It was an overall great trip to Sri Lanka and I loved it.”

Just a month later, Connolly found himself again in the spotlight after he replaced injured opener Matthew Short for the semi-final against India in Dubai. It was a bold call with Connolly having played just three ODIs previously and he had only opened once before in List A cricket.

Opening the innings with Travis Head, he faced nine deliveries from quick Mohammed Shami, making contact with the ball only twice, before edging behind for a duck. But Connolly bounced back with the ball and claimed his maiden international wicket when he dismissed Rohit Sharma plumb lbw.

“I don’t think my opportunity [in the semi-final] was a surprise,” Connolly said. “I felt like I was picked in that squad for a reason to go out there and showcase some skills.

“To walk out there in a semi-final was an unbelievable experience and I’ll take a lot of learnings from it.”

While the conditions will be different, Connolly is unlikely to find respite in a WACA surface that was looking particularly grassy on match eve. With so much at stake, the pitch might be something similar to the one rolled out last month against South Australia in a match that was the shortest outright result in Shield history.

But WA’s batters won’t have to deal with Victoria spearhead Scott Boland, who has not travelled to Perth as he manages knee soreness.

WA will be without speedster Lance Morris after he played rare back-to-back Shield matches. Coming off a stress fracture last winter as well as a quad strain late in the pre-season, Morris, a Cricket Australia contracted player, has a restriction of around 30 overs a game. He bowled 32 overs against NSW, claiming a first-class career best of 5 for 26 off 20.3 overs in the first innings.

Brody Couch is set to be a like-for-like replacement having had a strong Shield season since crossing over from Victoria with 21 wickets at 22.85. WA won’t have the services of Cameron Green, who is working his way back from back surgery, and IPL bound Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis and Aaron Hardie.

Having not been snapped up at the IPL auction, this match against Victoria might be Connolly’s last for some time given he currently has no playing commitments in the off-season.

“The dream would be to play the IPL eventually… [but] I’m just concentrating on what’s in front of me,” he said. “Not looking too far ahead, just trying to enjoy playing cricket and hopefully put some scores on the board while working on my bowling.”

Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth



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