Essendon spinner Liam Bowe on cusp of Big Bash League debut for Melbourne Stars

ONLY 10 months after he was playing for Bendigo club Sandhurst, spinner Liam Bowe is in line to make his Big Bash League debut for Melbourne Stars.

Liam Bowe delivers for Bendigo during Melbourne Country Week. Picture: Andy Rogers.

ONLY 10 months after he was playing for Bendigo club Sandhurst, spinner Liam Bowe is in line to make his Big Bash League debut for Melbourne Stars at the MCG tonight.

The 19-year-old has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past year, having been chosen in the Futures League Academy and making his Premier Cricket First XI debut with Essendon.

The left-arm leg-spinner toured New Zealand with the Stars last month and earned a spot as one of the club’s supplementary players for the sixth season of the BBL.

With Adam Zampa included in the Australian one-day side to face Pakistan, Bowe has been added to the Stars’ 13-man squad to face Adelaide Strikers.

“It seems a little bit surreal when you look at it that way, but it’s exciting for him,” Liam’s dad Kevin said.

“He had a pretty good run through the Under-18 State Championships and then the Under-19 nationals in Adelaide last year as well.

“I think that was a solid grounding for him to know he was on the right track.”

Essendon spin bowling coach Craig Howard, who handed Bowe his First XI debut at Sandhurst, drew similarities between the young spinner and former Aussie tweaker Brad Hogg.

“It’s been a massive 11 months for him, but to be honest we probably thought it could happen this way,” Howard said.

“It can happen this way with leg spinners. People tend to get very excited about them as soon as they see one ripping leg break or one ripping wrong’un.

“If you go down as a batter you have got to make five or six years of 800 runs to be looked at, whereas if you are a leg-spinner, a couple of good spells, someone likes it and you’re a chance to be in.”

Howard, who played 16 first-class matches for Victoria, said Bowe was ready to seize his BBL opportunity.

“Brad Hogg has been the best bowler in Big Bash so far in all the series and he’s probably very similar,” he said.

“He’s got a nice fast skidding leg break and a good wrong’un which guys find hard to hit.

“From a short-form point of view he’s ready to go now.”

Kevin said his son would not be daunted by the occasion if he was named to debut tonight.

“He’s very resilient and he will keep coming at the batsmen,” he said.

Bowe has taken 18 wickets at an average of 23.8 since joining Essendon, including a season-best haul of 3-34 on debut against Kingston-Hawthorn.