Hundreds the goal for emerging Adelaide all-rounder Ben Pengelley

BEN Pengelley is thinking big. Adelaide’s ultra-consistent batting all-rounder knows regular 50s will get him “pats on the back’’ from his clubmates but won’t help him reach his goal of playing Sheffield Shield cricket for the Redbacks.

Andrew Capel

@andrewcapel

4 min read

January 9, 2019 - 3:12PM

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BEN Pengelley is thinking big.

Adelaide’s ultra-consistent batting all-rounder knows regular fifties will get him “pats on the back’’ from his clubmates but won’t help him reach his goal of playing Sheffield Shield cricket for the Redbacks.

“I’ve been able to bring a few fifties to the table but I look at the bigger picture and I'm not rapt with it because I know that’s not knocking the door down for higher honours,’’ said the free-scoring 20-year-old Redbacks rookie.

“I love contributing to scores at the Buffalos with my fifties but my aim is to play Shield cricket and I won’t get there by just making fifties in grade cricket.

“You have to make hundreds to take the next step so I’m putting myself under the pump to do that.’’

Adelaide’s Ben Pengelley bats during theTwenty20 match against Tea Tree Gully at Glandore Oval. Picture: Mark Brake/AAP

A hard-hitting left-hander, Pengelley is in a rich vein of form.

He is the leading runscorer in this season’s SACA Twenty20 Cup with 188 in three matches at an average of 94 following scores of 75 not out, 63 and 50.

In the main first grade competition he has scored 244 runs at an average of 34.86 while taking 16 wickets with his left-arm fast-medium pacers, including a career-best 7/36 against Tea Tree Gully in round six, at 21.81.

Last season, Pengelley thumped 599 runs at an average of 54.55.

But his inability to convert excellent starts into hundreds is driving him crazy.

“I was going through this with my coaches the other day, looking at the MyCricket stats, and in my career I’ve made four centuries and 55 half-centuries,’’ Pengelley said.

“That’s not a great conversion rate and while I know there are worse problems to have I’ve got to start producing bigger scores.

“You look at Kelvin Smith (from West Torrens) and he’s been making big hundreds all season and has only just got back into the Shield team.

“It goes to show that fifties aren’t going to knock the door down. While they might get you a nice pat on the back in grade cricket, ideally that’s not where I want to spend all my time.’’

Pengelley, who was born in Alice Springs but grew up in the Eyre Peninsula “Steel City’’ of Whyalla, said he had studied his dismissals between 50 and 100 with his coaches and put them down to “a concentration problem’’.

“We have looked at every possible thing that could be going wrong and it comes down to

concentration, I think,’’ he said.

“Something is not clicking, particularly between 60 and 80, which is giving me some grief.

“So I need to re-set and really put my head down when I get into that position.’’

Pengelley, who has made two first grade hundreds with a best score of 122 against the Bulls two years ago, is a South Australian under-12, 17 and 19 representative who has played five Futures League matches for the Redbacks, where he has averaged 34 with two fifties and a highest score of 60 not out.

SA’s top run-scorer at the under-19 championships two seasons ago, Pengelley was picked in the 2017 national performance squad that trained in Brisbane during winter and represented the CA XI in last season’s JLT One-Day Cup, striking his maiden List A half-century against Queensland.

His younger brother Josh — a tearaway, right-arm fast bowler — has represented SA in the past two national under-19 championships and is a development rookie for the Adelaide Strikers.

Pengelley said he was “fully invested’’ in taking his cricket to the next level after years of family sacrifice.

Born in the shadows of Uluru where his dad was based for work, Pengelley had a brief stint in Western Australia before settling in Whyalla.

After he showed promise as a young country cricketer and was spotted by the Buffalos, Pengelley’s parents, Roger and Leanne, would make the round trip (about 800km) twice a week to Adelaide to get him and his brother to training and games.

They did this for six months a year for five years, clocking up close to 200,000km — or seven-and-a-half trips around Australia — in the process.

Three years ago the family relocated to Adelaide because of the boys’ increasing cricket commitments.

“The support mum and dad have given me and Josh has been awesome,’’ Pengelley said.

“Their commitment has been massive and I can’t thank them enough for the unreal opportunity they’ve given me. Now I have to make the most of it.’’

BEST WITH BAT

MEN

Ben Wakim (Uni) 113 no

Jake Winter (Glen) 92

Ben Cooper (Port) 76

Harvey Brennan (Pros) 58

Josh Barrett (SD) 54

Brad Davis (Sturt) 53

WOMEN

Angela Treloar (WT) 34

Ella Wilson (SD) 33

Francesca Queale (Kens) 29 no

Hannah Perry (SD) 28 no

BEST WITH BALL

MEN

Will Bowering (Glen) 4/15

Harry Cunningham (Glen) 4/19

Richard Carter (Port) 4/26

Shaun Tanner (SD) 4/27

James Harris (ND 3/23

Trevor Keen (Adel) 3/23

WOMEN

Sarah Lowe (Kens) 3/10

Ramanpreet Kaur (Port) 3/11

Neisha Iles (ND) 3/13

Stephanie Beazleigh (ND) 2/4

Adelaide University star cricketer Ben Wakim at Adelaide Oval. Picture: James Elsby.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

BEN WAKIM

Adelaide University captain smashed a spectacular 113 not out from only 54 balls in Saturday’s T20 clash against Prospect, hitting five sixes and 13 fours.