Billy Stanlake hoping Melbourne Stars switch brings about new dawn

SAM DALLING: The giant fast bowler left Adelaide Strikers for Melbourne ahead of the start of the ongoing Big Bash. After struggles with form and fitness, he hopes this is the beginning of a return to his best

The bouncer has been cricket’s hot topic for a while now, with the legitimacy of the short ball under scrutiny courtesy of several incidents during India’s tour of Australia.

First, Will Pucovski, currently making his Test bow, was ruled out of the first two games of the series after being struck while batting in the warm-up matches.

Then, also ahead of the Test series, Harry Conway, batting at 11 for Australia A, was struck on the helmet while facing India’s seam attack, with questions asked of the bowlers for their hostility.

Finally, India seamer Mohammed Shami suffered a hairline fracture in his arm after being hit by Pat Cummins in the first Test and has already returned home.

These events only served to further the case for those who question the bouncer’s place in the game; others argue it is woven into the sport’s fabric.

No prizes for guessing where Billy Stanlake sits on the subject: “I think if you took the bouncer away, it would take a massive part of cricket away,” he says.

“You have seen so many rules and regulations come into the game already that favour the batting side, and if you keep going cricket is going to become quite boring to watch.

“As a bowler, you don’t want the batsman to know that everything is going to be pitched up. It is part of the contest between bat and ball. It is the intimidation and fear factor of it.

“I don’t think anyone wants to see it taken away, whether that be a player or the average punter watching. If it were to go, I think it would be massively detrimental to the sport. I hope we don’t go down that route.”

^{Stanlake joined Melbourne Stars ahead of this Big Bash campaign}

Stanlake joined up with the Stars ahead of the 10th edition of the Big Bash, having spent the past five editions with Adelaide Strikers, for whom he collected 34 wickets in 39 outings. His output dropped in his last season at Adelaide and he concluded a fresh start we required.

“I just felt like it was something I needed to do,” he explains. “I thought that change would be the best thing for me going forward and the Stars was a really good fit for me.

“I knew of the few boys and felt like I would fit into the XI really well, while getting to play at the MCG suits my bowling style quite well.”

As well as new surroundings, Stanlake, like hit teammates, has been grappling with the BBL’s new innovations.

Amongst them the Bash Boost – an additional two-over powerplay to taken at the behest of the batting side after the ten over mark, which has been lauded as the most successful of the three changes.

“Bowling in the surges is new to everyone so there is a little bit of luck needed,” he admits. “We are learning on the fly a bit as well in terms of what to bowl and which two guys to put out of the circle.

“But everyone is in the same boat and people are still trying to work out when to take it. There have been a lot of wickets in them so far, perhaps because the batters have been going really hard from ball one in the first over of the surge. Maybe a little harder than they need to.

“It can go either way though:  if you have two set batters then it is going to be really tough work for the bowling team during the surge.”

^{Stanlake, 6ft 8in, in international action}

Stanlake – affectionately known “Big Bill” because of his 6ft 8in frame – has 26 white-ball caps for his country. Nineteen of those have come in T20Is where he has collected 27 wickets at a strike-rate of 15.5, and has an economy rate of just 7.77.

Those exploits earned him Indian Premier League deals with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Although he is still waiting his Sunrisers debut, he is enjoying developing his game by training with an attack spearheaded by Bhuvneshwar Singh.

“We quite good as a training unit, speaking to each other a lot about what works and bouncing around ideas,” he says. “It is great getting to speak to Bhuvy about how he goes about bowling the yorker – he is unbelievable at it so seeing how he goes about it and how the other guys go about bowling at the death is great experience.

“With so many world class players around you, it would be silly not to talk to them and I am definitely looking to add different skills. It is about trying not to stagnate or get too predictable. I’ve worked pretty hard on it for the last 12 months: getting better at executing the yorker and adding a nice slower ball so that I have more options when I am under pressure having to bowl at the death or in a power surge.” 

At times Stanlake’s body has failed him, a trait shared by many quicks. An impressive showing at the under-19 World Cup in 2014 earned him a rookie Queensland contract, but a stress fracture ruled him out of the following summer.

Having made his international debuts in early 2017, Cricket Australia awarded him a full contract in 2017-18 in an attempt to manage his workload and, ahead of last summer, he bulked up in an attempt to ward off injury.

“Touch wood, I haven’t had any major injuries for three or four years – it has just been silly things like sprained ankles and broken fingers. I think that comes with getting older and getting stronger. You see in most bowlers when they get to about 25 or 26: the body starts to mature a bit more and it becomes a bit more easy.”

^{Stanlake has played just eight first-class games}

To date he has been restricted to just eight first-class appearances, but that does not mean he has given up on his dream.

“I haven’t been able to play too much first-class cricket but after the Big Bash ends, we still have six Sheffield Shield games, and I am hoping to play a few of those. I want to really start trying to learn the red-ball game as it is still a massive goal of mine to play Test cricket one day.

“Maybe for different generations – those who have grown up predominantly watching T20 – the dream might be a little different, but for my generation Test cricket is still everyone’s dream!” 

Global situation allowing, Stanlake is open to learning the longer format of the game in English domestic cricket.

He has twice been pencilled in for spells with counties: first, in 2018 he was set to turn out for Yorkshire in the Blast but Cricket Australia pulled the plug at the last minute, deciding they wanted him to pre-season down under. Then, in 2019 he was due to join Derbyshire, but an injury sustained at the IPL ruled him out.

“I was pretty shattered both times,” he admits. “Everyone who knew I was going said that it was a great place to play cricket and that I would really enjoy myself.   

“I would love to get over there next year: whether it is red ball or white ball. I have missed quite a lot of cricket and I just need to play as many games as I can.  That is the point of my career I am at.”