Dumped by WA, Will Bosisto refuses to give up on Test cricket dream, moves to SA
Will Bosisto is desperate to play Test cricket for Australia. And after being dumped from the WA squad, he has made the move to SA in an effort to keep that dream alive. This and the top performers from the opening round in Over the Pickets.
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Will Bosisto said the news hit him “pretty hard’’.
“Because that’s been your life,’’ he said of losing his Western Australian cricket contract after seven years.
“All your adult life you’ve been involved in a professional sporting organisation and then suddenly it’s taken away from you.
“So it hurt but it didn’t take me long to regather my thoughts.
“It probably took about 3.5 seconds for me to think this is definitely what I want to be doing, it’s my absolute passion, that I am desperate to play Test cricket for Australia and that I shouldn’t give up on that dream.
“So my thoughts quickly turned to, ‘what is my best avenue to pursue that ultimate goal?’’
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Bosisto, 26, had long been regarded as one of the young shining lights of Australian cricket.
The Sandgroper was named Player of the Tournament at the 2012 under-19 World Cup, making 276 runs in six matches while being dismissed only once for an incredible average of 276.
He captained Australia in the series and produced on the big stage, with his highest score of 87 not out coming in the final against India, which Australia lost by six wickets.
Bosisto made his first-class debut for the Warriors at age 20 against Victoria in 2013, captained a Cricket Australia XI in the 2016 Matador Cup and scored two first-class centuries in 23 matches, including a career-best 167 not out against Queensland last year when he combined with Australian allrounder Mitch Marsh for a 185-run partnership.
He also represented the Perth Scorchers in 11 Big Bash League matches.
But he lost his WA contract at the end of last season after averaging a modest 23.41 in 42 first-class innings.
“It was very disappointing but at the end of the day I didn’t make enough runs or take enough wickets,’’ Bosisto said philosophically.
“I got told that my good games were too few and far between, so I had to look elsewhere.’’
Showing a steely determination, Bosisto, who considers himself a genuine allrounder with his off-spin bowling (he has taken 11 first-class wickets) complementing his class batting, spent the winter playing cricket in England for Durham club Willington.
Briefly suspended from bowling by Cricket Australia five years ago after biomechanical analysis revealed he had an illegal action, Bosisto worked hard on his bowling in England — “I bowled a mountain of overs,’’ he said — and while he was away plotted a move to South Australia to try to reignite his career.
“I felt there were opportunities for me to make my mark in cricket there while the wickets are good, it’s a very liveable city and a beautiful climate,’’ he said.
With no State contract, Bosisto joined SACA Premier Cricket club Adelaide University through his friendship with captain Ben Wakim and the fact that he had played for the University club in Perth.
He is still enrolled at the University of Western Australia and continues to study a bachelor of economics and finance degree, which he is completing online.
Confident and articulate and a talented golfer — he plays off a handicap of three — Bosisto
makes no bones about the fact that he is in Adelaide to chase his Test cricket dream.
“I feel that my game has come on dramatically in the past 12-to-24 months and that if I keep doing the work then I’m only going to improve further, that my best cricket is ahead of me,’’ he said.
“Not too many guys hit their peak at 26 and a lot don’t get there until their early 30s, so I don’t see any reason why I would be any different.
“My plan is still to play Test cricket, so I’ve just got to make sure that I make that many runs and take that many wickets — at whatever level I’m playing — that people can’t ignore it.’’
SACA PREMIER CRICKET CLUB WEEKLY WRAP
BEST WITH BAT
MEN
Jake Lehmann (ET) 188 no
Matt Weaver (TTG) 104
Patrick Page (Adel) 93 no
Gareth Cox (ND) 84
Henry Hunt (Ken) 79 no
Cam Valente (Adel) 78 no
WOMEN
Tegan McPharlin (ND) 39 no
Mary Waldron (ND) 39 no
Amelia Rault (Sturt) 24 no
Emily Johns (SD) 23
BEST WITH BALL
MEN
Tom Andrews (Wood) 5/22
Adam Somerfield (TTG) 5/22
Adam Zampa (ET) 4/46
Wes Agar (Adel) 3/28
Jordan Thomas (Port) 3/32
Lloyd Pope (Ken) 3/43
WOMEN
Alexandra Price (Sturt) 3/13
Katelyn Pope (Ken) 2/7
Brooke Harris (Sturt) 2/10
Samantha Betts (ND) 2/10
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JAKE LEHMANN
(East Torrens)
Opening the batting, the Redbacks dasher smashed an incredible, unbeaten 188 from 146 balls — the highest one-day score in club history — to lead the Reds to a round one win against Adelaide Uni. Lehmann batted through the 50-over innings, smashing six sixes and 14 fours.
CHAMPION PLAYER OF THE SEASON
Jake Lehmann (ET) 188
Tom Andrews (Wood) 174
Patrick Page (Adel) 133
Austin Umpherston (Port) 107
Daniel Drew (WT) 105
Sam Kerber (Uni) 104
Matt Weaver (TTG) 104
Cam Valente (Adel) 98