The day before his ODI debut, Xavier Bartlett spoke of Australia's selection as the “light at the end of the tunnel” after a long injury-related absence in 2023.
That light burned bright in the bright Melbourne sunshine on Friday as the fast bowler lit up the MCG with a third wicket ball and scintillating figures of 3-10 from his first six overs during a spell against the West Indies.
He finished with figures of 4-17 to back up teammate Marnus Labuschagne's call when Bartlett handed his cap that it was “just the beginning” of the great pace.
Australian selectors have finally unleashed their 'wild thing' Lance Morris after 12 months on tour but without playing, with just five members of the World Cup-winning squad playing in the team's first 50 matches since that triumph in India.
But while the pace of 'The Wild Thing' Morris proved beneficial to the West Indian batting cause after being fielded by Steve Smith, it was the less exciting and more measured Bartlett that made a stunning start to his international career,
The stands were a little too full to see the first pair of debutant bowlers in a home ODI since 1997, but Bartlett had the small crowd buzzing with his early threes that could have been fours, and was unable to convince Smith to review the rejected ball. LBW resumes on the last ball of his first over.
Three red lights on the replay, which showed it was out, proved to be only a short-lived setback, but the 25-year-old, the leading wicket-taker in the BIg Bash last season, followed up hitting the stumps of Windies opener Justin Greaves by dismissing Alick Athanaze in the second over before ending his first dream spell by removing skipper Shai Hope.
Bartlett had figures of 3-8 from five overs, which finished at 4-17 from nine overs, after a 110-run mid-innings stand from the West Indians Kiersey Carty (88) and Roston Chase (59) helped the visitors to 231, lasting just 48.4 as Sean Abbott and Cameron Green took two wickets each.
Bartlett's rise to prominence came after he missed the first half of Queensland's domestic season to prioritize the Big Bash after returning from a stint with the club in the UK due to a back injury.
He took 20 BBL wickets in Brisbane Heat's run to glory and earned a national call-up in the absence of front-line fast bowlers including Pat Cummins and Mitch Starc, showing he was up to the task.
“I've had a couple of layoffs due to injuries and I've just been trying to hone my skills with our bowling coach in Queensland, Andy Bischel, he's been really good to me,” Bartlett said.
“After such a long hiatus, which is frustrating, and now you stand here seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
“But I still need to improve a lot of things to get to where I want to get to.”
Finally for the wild stuff
After earning his first cap, Western Australia international Morris admitted he had endured an “interesting” 12 months being part of Test teams, without playing.
The 25-year-old did not catch himself a wicket after taking the new ball, finishing with figures of 0-59 from 10 overs. After taking a beating in a six-pack coupe, but he was just happy to finally wear the green and gold.
“It's been 18 months of being in this little limbo, being around the team,” he told Fox Cricket.
“It was interesting. But it was also a great learning experience and makes the transition into playing a little easier.”
Morris also announced his intention to “bring some speed into the game” while clarifying the selectors' instructions.
“I won't try to change much, and I hope it works out,” he said.
Bucking the trend?
The last two times the Australian selectors have chosen top-class players as their new batting pair, and things have not gone well.
In Johannesburg in 2016, the home side of Chris Tremaine and Joe Meaney took 6-361 in 142 innings to cruise to victory. Tremaine and Minnie had combined numbers from 1 to 160.
And in the 1997 Brisbane match, when Anthony Stewart and Andy Bischel won the new rock on their debut, Brian Lara and Karl Hooper both scored centuries in the West Indies' seven-wicket win.
Originally published as Xavier Bartlett picks up three early wickets in ODI debut for Australia
