Glenelg Cricket Club’s Isaac Higgins top scores at Australian under-17 national championships
He has established himself as one of Australia’s top under-17 batsman, has made his first grade debut and is the son of a state cricketer. Meet SA’s rising cricket star demanding attention on the national stage.
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It would be easy to compare Isaac Higgins’ style of play to some cricket greats.
The rising Glenelg all-rounder is the son of a former state cricketer, has just made his A grade cricket debut and topscored at the under-17 national championships.
His performances are demanding attention – and those comparisons will surely come – but Higgins is determined to be his own player.
The 17-year-old took the national championships in Queensland by storm last month, carving out a tournament-high 425 runs at an average of 85.
“I don’t like to try and be someone else or play like someone else, it’s more just being who I am and focusing on my own game,” Higgins, of Glenelg South, says.
After making his A grade debut for Glenelg in a two-day clash against West Torrens on Saturday, where he made 12 runs before being trapped LBW, his approach appears to be working.
Higgins’ standout display for South Australia at the championships also gained him selection for the Cricket Australia XI to play at the under-19 tournament.
“It was a great experience, different conditions, a lot more humid, a lot hotter and there’s a lot more pressure with Cricket Australia and others watching,” he says.
“It’s about dealing with that, I guess.”
Higgins, whose father Ben played 15 first-class matches for SA in the early 2000s, dealt with it extremely well.
The Immanuel College student made a blistering start to the carnival with 108 in the first match opening the batting against NSW Metro.
He backed it up two days later with 110 not out against the Cricket Australia XI.
What about these stats?!
— Cricket Aus Pathway (@CAPathway) October 7, 2019
333 runs @ 111, including two centuries (and a 98) in four matches.
Enjoy some of @SACAnews opener Isaac Higgins' best work at #U17Champs. pic.twitter.com/9cp2VhBNx3
And it could have been more, had he not been dismissed in the fourth match on 98 in the cruellest of fashions – hit-wicket.
“I went back for a cut shot and my foot slipped and hit the stumps, simple as that,” says Higgins, whose left-arm off-spinners also snared 2/46 in the final match of the tournament.
“But it was a really good tournament and (my performance) surprised me – shook me, really.
“I was always hoping and expecting myself to score some runs, but nothing like that ... it was a real shock.
“The under-19 championships will be a big step up so I’ll really see where I’m at after that.”