From rookie to rising star, Hurricanes to lock down Nathan Ellis

He was the Hurricanes’ shining light in a dismal end to their BBL season — and Hobart is adamant the rookie revelation won’t be going anywhere.

HURRICANES coach Adam Griffith has delivered a blunt warning to opposition BBL franchises looking to prize away his find of the tournament who could become a T20 World Cup bolter.

Hobart may have crashed out of the tournament in the eliminator to the Sydney Thunder on Thursday night, but not before Nathan Ellis confirmed his status as one of the best “death” bowlers in the competition.

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While the rest of the Hurricanes attack went for nearly 10 or more runs an over as the Thunder piled on 5-196, Ellis did not concede a single boundary from his four overs to finish with figures of 1-18.

He allowed the Thunder only 12 runs from overs 18 and 20, coming off the back of his match-saving final over against the Melbourne Renegades and successful close out of Adelaide last Sunday.

Hurricanes bowler Nathan Ellis (right) and Thunder batsman Usman Khawaja. Picture: ZAK SIMMONDS

Ellis’s ability to execute a specifically defined role not many bowlers in the world can perform leaves Griffith in no doubt the 25-year-old should be in the conversation for the World Cup later this year.

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Interest in the former Sydneysider, who secured the second last Hobart contract for BBL|09, is expected to skyrocket but Griffith declared Ellis will be going nowhere.

Nathan Ellis bowls during the Big Bash League eliminator finals match. Picture: STEVE BELL/GETTY IMAGES

“There will be but they won’t be getting him, he will be staying right here,” Griffith said.

“He plays a very specific role in the team, he finishes the powerplay for us and then finishes the game for us.

“There are not a lot of players who can do that well.

“I would hope he will be in the conversation at the table anyway, I hope his name would get mentioned.

“He is someone that brings a different skill set. To be able to bowl yorkers, and be confident to bowl them and execute them is something not a lot of players in the world can do.

“I think we will see Nathan playing a lot of cricket in a lot of formats for a long time.”

Ellis’s path to Big Bash stardom is one of the stories of the summer. He moved to Tasmania two seasons ago without a contract but with an insatiable work ethic, eventually breaking in to both the Tasmanian one day outfit and establishing himself in the T20 arena.

And it is the tough road travelled that Griffith believes will only fuel his drive to keep improving.

“The thing with Nathan is he has had to fight tooth and nail and live off the smell of an oily rag and fight and fight and fight to get where he is,” said Griffith, who likened Ellis to Perth star AJ Tye.

“He is not going to let this opportunity slip now.”