Former Australian cricketer Simon O’Donnell rapt by sons’ resilience

The sons of a former Test cricketer have been rewarded for their resilience with two personal triumphs in a wild 48 hours.

Carlton and Western Bulldogs fans may do a double take when they see former Australian cricketer Simon O’Donnell pacing the concourse at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.

They could get a few chances to identify him because the celebrated dual sport athlete thinks he might do a few nervous laps as his son James O’Donnell plays his first game for the Bulldogs.

The 20-year-old has received a senior call-up to cap off a whirlwind five weeks since he was signed as a category B rookie, with three impressive VFL games and an “unbelievably impressive” pre-season earning him the faith of Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge.

Incredibly, the proud news for the O’Donnell family came the day after James’ elder brother, Tom, won his way back onto the list of contracted Victorian cricketers after six seasons in the wilderness.

Their father, who played in both sports at the highest level with 24 VFL games at St Kilda to go with his six Tests and 87 ODIs, said it was “surreal” to see the pair both rewarded for their perseverance in the same week.

Simon O’Donnell with son James, who will make his debut for the Western Bulldogs against Carlton on Saturday night. Picture: Nicki Connolly

“We’re all just so proud of them. All our family are just so proud of how they’ve fought through the whole process and just tried to be as good as they can,” O’Donnell said.

“If they’ve ever asked anything of their parents and sister, we’ve been very happy to answer, but we haven’t pushed them one way or the other.

“Having been through all the lows and highs – will this happen, won’t this happen – it’s quite surreal in a way.”

O’Donnell said James’ debut was the result of a courageous decision to follow through on his unfulfilled childhood ambitions in football.

He said the 197cm fast bowler had been hampered by the two Covid-interrupted seasons and a rapid growth spurt after playing most of his junior footy as a midfielder.

“It was Christmas time he stopped playing cricket – in James’ words, he said he had an itch he had to scratch – he wanted to answer the question, can I or can’t I?” O’Donnell said.

Left arm quick Tom O’Donnell made his List A debut for Victoria in February and this week won his first state contract since his rookie season in 2016-17.

Beveridge was at pains to say James’ debut had been hard earned – the coach said his signing five weeks ago had been “trivial” and the speedy left-footer had earnt his spot off the back of a remarkable summer with the VFL program.

“He’s just been unbelievably impressive with everything he’s done. We had our doubts he’d be able to complete a pre-season seeing he hasn’t really played much footy,” Beveridge said.

“It surprised us that everything we threw at him he was able to manage, and we’ve been able to school him in a couple of roles and try to prepare him.”

O’Donnell said Tom’s comeback to force his way back into the Victorian squad was a testament to his character in the face of a luckless run with injuries.

The left-arm fast bowler burst onto the scene for seven List A matches as a 19-year-old in 2016, as well as a game against South Africa for the Cricket Australia XI where he claimed three wickets, but his body broke down.

Strong form in Premier Cricket with Essendon led to a Victorian one-day debut in February, where he opened the bowling against South Australia.

“Tom had a really difficult few years with stress fractures and confidence in whether his frame would ever give him the opportunity to play to the best he can,” O’Donnell said.

“They were troubled waters, and he actually worked his way through all of that and still had the passion and determination to do as well as he could.”