Inside the fiery net session where a 20-year-old Lance Morris introduced himself to Australia’s Test stars

Lance Morris has been on the cusp of a Test debut for 13 months now, but Australia’s Test stars got their first terrifying glimpse of him five years ago in an unforgettable net session, writes DANIEL CHERNY.

When Lance Morris finally makes his international debut during the one-day series against the West Indies, it will mark a day that has seemed inevitable for at least 13 months dating back to when he was first called up to the Australian Test squad.

But in reality Morris first made an impact on the national side more than five years ago. Just 20 and rookie-listed with Western Australia, Morris bowled in the Perth nets to the Aussie Test squad preparing for that summer’s second Test against India.

The pace for which he has become known and earned the moniker “The Wild Thing,” an ode to former Test quick Shaun Tait, was already on show.

Morris was rapid. Nevermind Jasprit Bumrah, Australia’s batters didn’t want a bar of the kid from the Margaret River region.

“Not many people wanted to face him,” recalled David Saker, who was at the time serving his final few weeks as an Australian assistant coach.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Saker decided to tip off his close mate Mick Lewis, the former Australian white-ball bowler who was then working with the Melbourne Stars.

Lance Morris has been bringing the heat for years. Picture: Will Russell/Getty Images

“I just watched him in the nets. I was with the Aussie team. So he just had this serious raw pace, which obviously when you see that as a bowling coach, you get quite excited,” Saker told this masthead in an interview in late 2023.

“So I reckon I picked up the phone that night and rang Mickey Lewis who was obviously with the Stars. And I didn’t know if Lance was contracted to anyone. I don’t think he was. I said ‘I think it’s worth just having a look at this guy.’ I reckon they signed him within two weeks. I don’t know whether he played but they got him.”

Morris didn’t play for the Stars that summer, a season in which the club lost a heartbreaking final to the Melbourne Renegades.

He made his debut for the Stars the following summer though, before a Sheffield Shield debut for Western Australia in October, 2020.

A couple of seasons later he’d been added to the Test squad, and would’ve been an Ashes tourist if not for a back stress injury.

Rehabilitated though, Morris was on the cusp of a baggy green earlier this summer, denied by the sturdiness of Australia’s big three quicks and Scott Boland.

But at just 25, it’s hard to envisage the chance won’t come along soon enough for a man capable of bowling at more than 150 km/h.

Morris has 74 first-class wickets at 25.44 and has since ventured to his home state Perth Scorchers, producing an eye-catching five-wicket haul against the Adelaide Strikers in early January.

Lance Morris has been soaking in the knowledge of Australia’s Test stars for more than a year now. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The selectors have been keen for him to play international cricket, even in the one-day format where he has played just seven professional games.

“When you see pace as a fast bowling coach, you just get so excited,” Saker said.

Having worked with some of the quickest bowlers in the world, he knows when a rare talent has been unearthed.

“When you see an action like that, ball speed like that – you know that those guys will make it if they get the right people around them. Just like Mark Wood and I suppose James Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson.

“Once Mitchell got the right people around him, he did what he did. Raw speed, you can create it but most of it’s just someone’s God-given talent. So you’re bloody lucky if you’ve got it, and when you see it, you get excited.

“He could be very good and I think if you get him in the right team, looked after really well by the captain, bowled at the right times, he’ll be an unbelievable asset to your team.

“Again going back to guys like Mark Wood and impact fast bowlers that can come on and bowl a spell of bouncers when you need it, on a wicket that can be quite docile, guys with ball speed are just so important.”

Originally published as Inside the fiery net session where a 20-year-old Lance Morris introduced himself to Australia’s Test stars