Big Bash free agent stakes claim as replacement after breaking decade-long CTPL T20 record

The disappointment of missing Sheffield Shield selection has fuelled Caleb Jewell’s early season CTPL run spree, and a record breaking T20 knock has enhanced claims for a Big Bash lifeline. WATCH JEWELL’S CTPL HIGHLIGHTS >>>

• Hurricanes finalise BBL|10 roster
• North Hobart faces litmus test against Uni

CALEB Jewell might be without a contract for the upcoming BBL but he has not given up hope of landing a spot as a replacement player.

And if his efforts for North Hobart on the weekend are any indication, the talented left-hander could be a prized low cost free agent.

Jewell blazed a whirlwind 139 from just 52 balls against Glenorchy at New Town Oval to set a new record for the highest Twenty20 score in the history of the CTPL — surpassing Rhett Lockyear’s unbeaten 138 for University back in November 2010.

His incredible knock included 15 sixes and seven boundaries, and continued a sparkling run of form which also includes back to back two-day centuries.

Caleb Jewell of the Hurricanes looks on after playing a shot during the Big Bash League (BBL) cricket match between the Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes at Optus Stadium in Perth, Sunday, January 5, 2020. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)

Jewell, who was not offered a deal with the Hobart Hurricanes for BBL|10, is the CTPL’s leading run scorer with 472 at an average of 78.6, and used his omission from the Tiger’s Sheffield Shield squad which went to the Adelaide hub as motivation for his early season run spree.

“I’m feeling pretty confident at the moment, I think the fact I knew realistically I wasn’t going to be a chance to go to Adelaide after the squad was selected, I just focused on playing club cricket without in the back of my mind worrying about selection,” he said.

“Sometimes you get a couple of hundreds you are a good chance of getting put into a squad, but I just wanted to make sure I dominated club cricket as much as I could.

“I was pretty flat not to be in the squad, previously I probably would’ve have cracked it and not performed as well but I accepted it and tried to dominate as much as I can.

“Before I might have been satisfied with one hundred, but this year I want to get as many as I can.”

Caleb Jewell bats during the game against Clarence at the TCA Oval. Picture Chris Kidd

With the Hurricanes bolstering their top order with the signing of Peter Handscomb and adding international firepower through Dawid Malan, Colin Ingram and Will Jacks, Jewell was overlooked this summer.

However should a franchise be hit with injuries, his form could go a long way to seeing him add to his 21 appearances in purple.

“I didn’t go in [to the weekend] with any preconceived ideas I was going to go at the rate I did, but I got off to a bit of a flyer in the first game against New Town and I kept going in the second one.

“Anything I tried basically worked, it was just one of those days where everything came off for me.

“I didn’t know [it was a new record], centuries in T20 cricket are pretty rare.

“Hopefully the performances on the weekend give me a pulse to get picked up somewhere as a replacement player potentially, you just don’t know.”

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