Adelaide Strikers batsman Jon Wells opens up on the intricacies of his middle order role
One game he could be coming in at the start of the innings, the next with just a couple of balls remaining. Jon Wells has to be prepared for everything in his batting role with Adelaide Strikers.
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The only consistent for Jon Wells in his middle order role for the Strikers is the unexpected, but the experienced Twenty20 batsman says he knows how to prepare for the variety of situations he will encounter.
In his third season as a Striker after switching from the Hobart Hurricanes - and winning the title with Adelaide in BBL07 - Wells has unbeaten knocks of 55 against the Sydney Thunder and 18 against the Perth Scorchers.
The half century, off just 32 balls, in the ultimately abandoned match in Canberra because of bushfire smoke came after Wells came in just after the halfway mark of the Strikers’ innings, while against the Scorchers he was called upon late in Adelaide’s dig.
The 31-year-old, who has now played 78 T20 games worldwide since 2011, said it was all part of coming in at No. 5 for the Strikers.
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“It’s a bit of a weird position there in that middle order,” he told The Advertiser.
“One game you can come in really early and then the next with just a couple of overs or even balls to bat.
“So for me it’s just about playing my role and doing what I have to do for the team whenever I come in, hopefully there are some games that I don’t have to contribute at all.”
But while not being required to bat is something Wells would not mind, he knows he has to expect everything and anything at the crease this BBL campaign.
“You have to adapt to anything and be able to score all around the ground because if you do have any limitations teams pick up on it pretty quick,” he said.
“For me, it’s about being really adaptable and making sure I’m prepared for a range of different situations because in the middle in 14 games you will probably have 14 different situations that you come in and need to bat in.
“I’m fairly experienced now in T20 cricket, so I feel like I’ve got my head around how I need to play in different situations.”
After their win against the Scorchers on Monday, in which they survived an early Perth batting onslaught, the Strikers next take on the unbeaten Melbourne Stars on Friday on the Gold Coast.
The Stars’ two wins so far in BBL09 have been set-up by 80s from Glenn Maxwell (83 against Brisbane) and Marcus Stonis (81 not out against Hobart).
Wells said stopping those two would be key for the Strikers, but they couldn’t focus entirely on negating Maxwell and Stoinis.
“They are definitely two dangerous batsmen who are seeing the ball well and we need to get them out,” he said.
“But they have other dangerous players as well, such as (Peter) Handscomb, (Nic) Maddinson and (Ben) Dunk who have all done really well in the Big Bash at different stages in the past.”