Cooper Connolly was fielding for Scarborough in grade cricket on Saturday when he acquired a call-up he’ll always remember.
“The coach walked out and said ‘mate, you’ve got to go field for the Aussies’,” Connolly mentioned.
“I was sort of like, ‘this is happening, I’ve got to go to Optus now’.
“It didn’t hit me until I was driving there, that I might get to field with some of the greatest cricket players in Australia at the moment.”
Two hours later, and the 19-year-old had gone from enjoying in entrance of some dozen individuals at Scarborough’s Justin Langer Oval to being on the worldwide stage in entrance of the Justin Langer Stand – and Langer himself in commentary – at Optus Stadium.
Fielding in a wide-brimmed hat at deep level in opposition to the West Indies, Connolly understandably had loads of nerves.
“I went on and I reckon that was the most nervous I’ve been for a long period of time,” Connolly mentioned.
“You always think about ‘nah, I don’t want to go on. What happens if I fumble? What happens if I misfield?’
“The first three balls I was shaking. And then the fourth ball, Nathan Lyon came over to me and said ‘how you feeling?’ and I tried to play it all cool, I was like ‘yeah, I’m fine, mate. I’m all good. I’m enjoying it.’
“He was just like ‘relax’. I was kind of just soaking it all in after that. For someone of his high calibre to come over and say ‘just relax and enjoy it’, I felt like I could chill out and just back myself.”
Connolly mentioned it was an “unreal experience” to be on the market with the Australian facet.
“Going from grade cricket where I’m playing with my local mates, having a bit of fun, to… I’ve got to switch on, run drinks for Australia and potentially field a couple of balls and maybe take a catch. It was such a great experience, I loved every minute of it,” he mentioned.
“You dream as a little kid, obviously you want to play cricket for Australia and it’s sort of a little taste of what it’s like to be out there.
While his first over was uneventful as he tried to settle the nerves, it didn’t take long for the action to come his way.
Connolly saved a boundary on the rope with a diving catch, prompting rousing applause from the local crowd.
“It was unreal. They got around me and it’s something I’ll always keep with me. They were always supportive, a couple of them were asking for autographs,” he mentioned.
Following Australia’s convincing victory within the first Test, Connolly acquired the prospect to mingle within the dressing room.
“I spent a little bit of time just chatting to them and seeing how they go about stuff,” he mentioned.
“Just really getting to know them, forgetting about cricket for a little bit and just chatting.”
The expertise has fuelled the already burning fireplace to in the future get his personal saggy inexperienced, having already captained Australia on the underneath 19s World Cup earlier this 12 months.
“I think the hunger was always there for me but just that (experience), especially with the little ovation after I fielded one ball, that gives me a little bit more of that hunger,” he mentioned.
“Just knowing the public want me to play there. It does give me a lot of hunger.”
Connolly will now flip his consideration to the Perth Scorchers’ Big Bash League marketing campaign – after he finishes the remainder of Scarborough’s grade match in opposition to Claremont-Nedlands.
