A broken toe jumping from a boat cost Cooper Connolly one red-ball debut.
A crashed pushbike, concussion and a night in hospital delivered him another.
And the 21-year-old bolter’s composure under fire, up-tempo hitting and left-arm finger spin may yet deliver a baggy green in Sri Lanka.
Connolly’s selection for the two-Test subcontinent tour comes with just four first-class games under his belt and not a single wicket from them for Western Australia, where he has only bowled a part-timer’s 16 overs.
So his bowling is very much the second string in his all-round arsenal. But it’s a developing craft – and one Australian selectors are keen to foster – alongside batting that has yielded three Sheffield Shield half centuries and an average of 61, albeit from a very small sample size.
Connolly’s WA first-class tally should be larger. But as a keen water man with a penchant for boats, Land Rovers and pulling things out of the ocean, his planned WA debut was put on ice at the start of last summer.
An awkward landing jumping from a boat left him needing surgery on a badly broken toe, and raised his profile in the Big Bash for Perth once he returned, where he had already helped seal a championship with a nerveless chase in the 2023 final.
Yet, when Cameron Bancroft hit his head in a cycling accident just days out from last year’s Sheffield Shield final, WA had little hesitation tossing him into the fray for his first-class debut.
Three players had made their debuts previously with state honours on the line: Alan Mullally (WA in 1987-88), Martin Love (Queensland, 1992-93) and Nick Kruger (Queensland, 2002-03).
But none came close to producing the first innings 90 Connolly knocked up with WA’s tail in what proved a thumping win that, combined with impressive lower order Big Bash hitting, led to a limited overs tour of the UK and white-ball debuts.
Australian T20 captain Mitch Marsh noted at the time a stance and a cover drive that resembles that of his brother Shaun.
Cooper Connolly hits out for the Scorchers.Credit: Getty Images
“There’s a lot to like,” selection chairman George Bailey said of picking a tourist with so much cricket still ahead of him.
“Technically, we like it. Temperament, we like. Character, we like. Clearly, skill set, there’s a lot to like there as well.
“On the first-class front, there’s not a great deal of games behind him, but he is one that’s been around that one-day group. We have in the past used that as a stepping stone at different times to see a player a bit more, find out a bit more about the way they play.
“He was obviously the beneficiary of that … He’s someone that we’ve had our eye on for a period of time. We like what we’re seeing. Clearly, there’s lots of work to go.”
Clearly, too, Australia are willing to put the time and effort into Connolly given the skills he brings.
Bailey has spoken previously about the absence of left-arm finger spin in Australian cricket’s rich history – and about trying to rectify that.
Victorian Jack Saunders, who played his last Test in 1908, has taken the most wickets of all Australian left-arm spinners with just 79.
Along with Nathan Lyon’s likely offsider Matt Kuhnemann, Connolly offers a craft that has flourished in the subcontinent, not least Sri Lanka.
Since Muttiah Muralitharan’s retirement in 2010, left-arm spinners, led by Rangana Herath, have taken their wickets at an average of 27.86, compared to 35.44 from all other types of bowling.
India’s Ravindra Jadeja has dominated previous Border-Gavaskar series on home soil and will loom large on those still to come.
Even previously unheralded Kiwi Mitchell Santner dominated India during last year’s historic 3-0 series win with 13 wickets in Pune.
Bailey described Connolly as “suited to the middle order” with “a view that he can bowl some handy overs” ahead of his first subcontinent tour.
All going to plan, there will be a few to follow.
