‘Long road’ to Australian Test squad call-up all worth it for Tasmania’s Beau Webster

Beau Webster’s dream of one day playing for Australia is now within reach and as the potential Australian Test debutant tells RYAN ROSENDALE, he’s as focused as ever on making that dream a reality.

If you’d asked Beau Webster if being named in an Australian Test squad was on the cards some five or six years ago, he likely would have said no.

But that was before the ‘Slug from Snug’ continued to put performance after performance on the board and announce himself as the country’s most consistent state performer since the turn of the decade.

Webster’s form across the Sheffield Shield competition over the last three seasons has become too hard to ignore. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

A long-time member of Tasmania’s line-up, it’s no secret a switch from spin bowling to pace, and a greater consistency as a middle-order batsman, has become the catalyst behind the 31 year-old’s long-awaited call-up to the Australian squad for both the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests.

Described by the man himself as a long-road, Webster admits he wasn’t sure the dream of playing for his country would ever become a reality.

“Plugging away in first-class cricket for 10-plus years, there was certainly a time when I didn’t think it was going to happen,” Webster told The Mercury.

“I sort of adjusted my goals just to be able to stay in Tasmania’s Shield team and then to continue to perform and try and win a Shield (title) was the end goal when I didn’t think a national call-up was on the cards.

“I suppose that turned around pretty quickly, obviously still having those two goals, but to also think that if I continue to play the way I am then I may not actually be far away.

“It’s been a long road … so to get the call and for it to be a reality, to be a part of a Test squad for the first time, I’m just really stoked to get amongst it.

“But it’s only just starting now. Obviously if I do get a game, I don’t just want to be a one-Test wonder, I actually want to do well and prove I can perform at that level.”

After averaging 52 runs with the bat in his second season as a fully-fledged pace-bowling all-rounder, Webster went at 43 the following summer before taking his game to heights last season that became too hard for anyone to ignore.

Becoming just the second player in Sheffield Shield history to score more than 900 runs and take 30 wickets in a season, similar veins of form early this season continued to prove Webster was ready and waiting to take his talents to greater heights.

Webster has been brought in for cover should Mitch Marsh fail to prove himself fit for either the Adelaide or Brisbane Test matches against India. (Photo by William WEST / AFP)

And after finishing the recent Australia A series with 145 runs and seven wickets in two games, it’s no surprise a long-awaited phone call from national selector and former Tasmanian teammate George Bailey came late last week immediately following the Tigers win over NSW.

“I was having a few (drinks) in the rooms with everyone when he (Bailey) called,” Webster said.

“We spoke for five or ten minutes about the game and at the end of it, in typical ‘Bails’ fashion, he just sort of asked if I wanted to join the Test squad next week. I couldn’t have said yes quickly enough.

“(Tigers coach) Jeff Vaughan and Mike Smith, our batting coach, were the first two I told and then they broke the news to the rest of the team and they couldn’t have be happier for me.

“I obviously sent a few texts out straight away to some people and called my fiancee, Madeline, straight away. She was over the moon and then I called Mum and Dad and I think they thought something was wrong but they couldn’t have been more proud.”

While his on-field exploits are as big a reason as any for a potential Test debut, Webster said the backing of his three biggest supporters was just as crucial for his career-best form.

“Growing up, I’m that typical story of Dad throwing thousands of balls at me in the nets,” he said.

“I couldn’t get the bat out of my hands enough when I was young and going through juniors Dad was always the one to give me a clip if I did something poorly or pat me on the back if I was doing well. So both he and Mum have been massive for me across the journey.

“And then I suppose more so in the last half a decade, my fiancee has been just as big a support. I spend a lot of time away from home she’s holding down the fort a lot of the time when I’m on these trips either to England or some franchise cricket, or just away with Big Bash.

Webster could join the likes of Ricky Ponting, David Boon, Tim Paine and Matthew Wade as Tasmanian-born players to play Test cricket for Australia. (Photo by Steve Bell/Getty Images)

“So Madeline’s been huge for me and I think it’s another reason for my success over the last three or four years is being really settled off field and having that support network definitely around me has helped.”

Set to celebrate his 31st birthday on Sunday before joining the squad in Adelaide on Monday, Webster is under no illusions a maiden baggy green is still no guarantee but with the opportunity to join a star studded list of Tasmanian cricketers to play for their country now within reach, he’s confident he can do both them, his friends and family and his home state proud.