Australia's T20I squad for the matches against Scotland and England this month is with an eye on the future , especially the selection of Cooper Connolly after a professional career that includes just 15 T20s and 20 matches across formats.
However, in that small sample size, he has already shone in the pressure situations. Having made an important 20 off 11 in his first T20 innings, he shot to prominence in just his second when he struck 25 off 11 balls to help Perth Scorchers to the BBL title when they needed 39 off 19 deliveries. Then last season, he compiled a classy 90 on his first-class debut in the Sheffield Shield final.
"He's a lot more calming than a kid should be in that position," Nick Hobson , his partner in the BBL match-winning stand, said at the time.
His Scorchers and Western Australia coach Adam Voges has seen Connolly at close quarters through the early stages of his career and believes he's a player who embraces the pressure scenarios.
"While he's still young in terms of games played, he's put some eye-catching performances… he's a character that doesn't get overawed by big moments, that's what the selectors must have seen and been happy to get him involved," Voges told ESPNcricinfo. "He's a relatively laidback character, think that probably helps in those really high-pressure moments, but while he's young in games played there's a maturity about his cricket and an understanding of how he goes about his game."
It's a view shared by Australia's T20I captain Mitchell Marsh , who is also a domestic team-mate of Connolly's.
"The one thing that stood out to me, and we saw it in Big Bash, is he loves the big moments," Marsh told Fox Cricket . "He's going to fail at certain times in those moments, but I know that he doesn't get overawed by that, he's a very calm character. He's a confident, humble young man, and I think Australia will fall in love with him."
Connolly has long been in Australia's pathways: he was the youngest member of their 2020 Under-19 World Cup squad and captained them in the 2022 edition. He has also been to the MRF Academy in India. Domestically, Connolly's path to the professional game was through the Scarborough Club where he has played since the Under-13 level. Last season, he was made captain late into the campaign and guided them to the first grade final. Andrew Tye plays for the same club and the two have a close bond, a friendship forged through Connolly's father.
"I just want to be like Coop," Tye said the day after his BBL heroics in early 2023.
When Cameron Bancroft suffered a nasty bike accident just days before the Sheffield Shield final in March, Connolly was handed a first-class debut that would likely have come earlier in the summer if he hadn't been in a boating accident. Voges didn't consider it a gamble to throw him into a decider with Connolly having come off strong form for Scarborough, including a knock of 181 off 189 balls (out of a total of 343) and another of 67 off 76 which new Scarborough coach David Baird considered just as good.
"Those two innings were outstanding, we're not winning either of those games without his contribution," Baird told ESPNcricinfo. "As the season went on, his leadership really developed, he was great for us in the finals.
"He's truly a Scarborough player. There's no airs and graces, and that's set by those around him. He slots back into the side very nicely. I think at certain points he also felt guilty to come back in and captain when he'd been away, but that certainly wasn't the case."
For the upcoming six T20Is, Connolly has been picked with a middle-order finishing role in mind. Batting at Nos. 6 and 7 in the BBL, he has a strike rate of 154.76. "That ability to bat from four to seven, we find it is a challenging spot to find and maintain players through that area," national selector George Bailey said.
Last season, Scorchers tried him as an opener early in the tournament, where Connolly struggled with 31 runs in four innings. Voges believes the disrupted preparation didn't help and envisages him batting higher in the future, but he will remain around No. 6 for this summer.
"Anyone who can have success in that finishing role needs to be able to read the game well, needs to be able to understand what the situation requires, then be able to go up and down gears depending on that," Voges said. "Think Cooper has that, he's got the ability to clear the boundary, that's critical in the back end of games, but equally he has the smarts to understand what is required as well. He's played that role for us for a couple of years now, we tried him up the top but he certainly found that nice role at No. 6."
The other aspect of his game, which is valuable, and potentially not just in white-ball cricket, is the developing left-arm spin which brought six wickets in 11 overs last season. With Glenn Maxwell rested for the T20 leg of this tour, Connolly will provide support for Adam Zampa, while in this season's BBL, he is being viewed as the No. 2 to Ashton Agar at Scorchers.
"Think there's a lot of upside with his bowling," Voges said. "It's still clearly the second string at the moment but it's more than handy. We saw him bowl some really important spells for us last year. We feel he is already the support to Ash. While they do both bowl left-arm spin, think they are very different bowlers and we have absolute faith that Coops will be able to play a role there as well."
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