If you thought Sam Konstas was inexperienced with 11 first-class matches under his belt when he came into the Australia side, their next debutant could have just four games to his name when they earn a baggy green and a maiden first-class wicket might come in a Test.
“I was quite big on someone like Cooper coming in to be able to spin the ball away,” Smith said. “You watch India play in India and they have Axar [Patel] and [Ravindra] Jadeja, if one of their spinners gets tired or nothing’s happening they can turn to another spinner. I like the fit, just having a couple of spinners going each way. It matches up really nicely.”
Connolly, who revealed he had pulled out a 10-year-old picture of him alongside Smith at the WACA following his call-up, won’t be expected to play the role of those specialist spinners, but he is confident in how his bowling is developing despite the limited opportunities.
“I feel like my bowling is pretty high at the moment. I like to think it is,” he said. “That’s something that will get me in teams around the world and hopefully more opportunity for Australia. Think my bowling’s come a long way in the last 18 months so I’m happy with where it’s at.”
It was 9pm in the evening when Connolly received the phone call to tell him he had made the squad. “Saw Tony Dodemaide’s name pop up and thought there’s probably only thing it could be,” he said. “[It was a] nice phone call, went straight and told mum and dad, mum was about to cry. I’ll never forget that moment. Dream come true.”
It was a theme picked up by chair of selectors George Bailey when the squad was announced. “Technically, we like it. Temperament, we like. Character, we like. Clearly, skill set, there’s a lot to like there as well,” he said.
Connolly would have played Shield cricket before last season’s final but for a boating accident, and he would have added a couple more appearances if not for a broken hand picked up in the ODI against Pakistan in Perth. He has scored half-centuries in each of his first three Shield matches and featured in the Australia A-India A series before switching to the ODI squad.
While Connolly’s bowling has been a big part in his selection, batting is clearly his stronger suit, although even there he continues to learn on the run, particularly when it comes to switching between formats which he will need to do heading to Sri Lanka from the BBL where he is currently the leading run-scorer.
“I haven’t done a lot of it [changing formats] so I’m still learning but think it will be about [how] I like to be an aggressive player in red ball cricket as well,” he said. “So it’s just about toning it down a little from T20 and still playing the way that’s got me to this level.”
As the game gets a glimpse of Australia’s next generation, Connolly was full of praise for the way Konstas started his Test career. “Seeing him play ramps shots off [Jasprit] Bumrah, it’s exciting; I won’t be doing that,” he said with a smile. “He’s brought so much energy to that team, they already had a lot of energy, but he’s just brought something different, the way he plays it’s amazing to be honest. He’s brave enough to ramp Bumrah three times in an over. It will be a nice opportunity to get in there and hopefully provide some more energy with him.”
Whether Connolly plays or not, he will use the chance in Sri Lanka to soak up as much knowledge as he can from the experienced players.
“I’ll probably sit in Travis Head’s pocket like I did during the one-day and T20 series,” he said. “It’s just going to be exciting to be around some players that ten years ago I was watching play Test cricket at the WACA. I actually pulled up a photo from 10 years ago, it was a photo of me and Steve Smith, so that was pretty cool thinking I could be running out with him.”
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
