Leg Buys: 22-year-old tweaker from Geelong emerges as Nathan Lyon’s replacement

A 22-year-old wrist spinner from Geelong has emerged as Nathan Lyon’s replacement after earning a spot in last season’s Victorian Premier Cricket team of the year. All the latest cricket gossip in this week’s Leg Buys column.

Geelong wrist-spinner Callum Stow is poised to join the Melbourne Renegades for much of the coming Big Bash League season as a replacement player for Test tweaker Nathan Lyon.

Having not played at all during his first BBL campaign with the Renegades last season, Lyon, who turns 37 in November, will again be unavailable for the bulk of this season due to national commitments. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is due to end in Sydney on January 7, the day of the Gades’ seventh match of the season.

Lyon could in theory play three games for the Renegades at the tail-end of the regular-season. But that will hinge on Cricket Australia clearing him to feature in those matches on the back of an expected heavy workload against India and with two Tests in Sri Lanka set to begin in late January.

The Sri Lanka tour would likely rule Lyon and other Australian Test squad members out of the BBL finals should their respective teams qualify.

Having hurt his calf during the Lord’s Test last June, Lyon has been managed carefully by CA, which restricted his stint at Lancashire earlier this year. While Lyon is likely to feature heavily in the Sheffield Shield ahead of the India series, he has been rested from NSW one-day duties.

Geelong product Callum Stow bowls against Bangladesh for the Melbourne Renegades Academy. Picture: NT Cricket.

Left-arm tweaker Stow, 22, has been on the Renegades’ radar for several months after playing for the club’s academy side in Darwin during the winter.

He took 32 wickets at 21.31 for Geelong in Victorian Premier Cricket last season, earning a spot in the competition’s team of the year.

His T20 efforts were particularly impressive and paraded his control of the white-ball – he dismissed Test players Marcus Harris and Peter Handscomb in a return of 2-17 off four overs against St Kilda.

Renegades coach Cameron White told this masthead he received good notices about Stow last season and arranged for him to train with the Sydney Sixers at the MCG, where White had been serving as an assistant.

“He bowls left-arm wrist spin and there aren’t a lot of left-arm wrist spinners going around the country,’’ he said.

Nathan Lyon joined the Renegades from the Sydney Sixers last season but didn’t play a game. Getty Images

“He’s been doing some really good work in a train-on squad with the Victorian team and he came up to Darwin and bowled well up there.’’
Victorian cricket stalwart Brendan “Bushy’’ McArdle organised for Stow to play club cricket in the UK two years ago and is a fan of the Geelong slowie.

“I think he’s very good,’’ he said this year. “He’s got zip and he’s a bit hard to read and he’s getting better. A lot of people have got high hopes for him.’’

Paceman Xavier Crone is also being linked to the Renegades, although Victorian quick Sam Elliott will likely need to look interstate for a BBL opportunity despite his record-breaking start to the domestic season in which he took 7-12 against Tasmania.

Joe Clarke is returning to the Melbourne Stars. Picture: Getty Images

JOE AGAIN

Cross-town rivals the Melbourne Stars have pounced on English wicketkeeper-batter Joe Clarke, who is poised to return to the Stars after a season with the Renegades. Clarke, 28, is set to replace compatriot Ben Duckett - taken at pick No. 1 in the BBL overseas player draft - who is likely to miss the first two matches of the Stars’ season due to England Test commitments in New Zealand.

Clarke played six matches for the Renegades last season after yielding 800 runs for the Stars across the previous two seasons.

The Stars selected Duckett and Pakistani spinner Usama Mir in the draft earlier this month, having signed former Sydney Sixers all-rounder Tom Curran as a pre-draft signing.

The Renegades opted for English pair Laurie Evans and Jacob Bethell to complement pre-draft acquisition Tim Seifert of New Zealand.

Jon Holland played Test match cricket for Australia. Picture: Getty Images

NEW HOLLAND

Ex-Test tweaker Jon Holland is set to return to the Renegades as an assistant to new head coach White. It’s understood Holland, 37, pipped a competitive field including three former international cricketers to the role.

Holland was on the books of the Renegades for several seasons and was a member of the squad that claimed the club’s sole BBL title six years ago. 

He has been working in the Victorian pathway after not being offered a contract at the end of the 2022-23 season.

The left-arm orthodox bowler played four Tests, all in Asia, between 2016 and 2018.