500 wickets for Lewis Gregory, whose stock continues to rise

SAM DALLING: The Somerset allrounder was none the wiser when Peter Handscomb chipped to mid-off to bring up the milestone wicket. In recent times, as an England international and a sought-after T20 cricketer, his stock has grown as he has improved

“No,” is Lewis Gregory’s simple, yet emphatic answer to an enquiry as to whether he tracks his own numbers.

And that is why his latest milestone – 500 professional wickets – passed him by.

The landmark, made up of 282 first class-victims and 218 in white-ball cricket, was reached during his Big Bash bow for Brisbane Heat on Sunday, Peter Handscomb misreading a knuckle ball and chipping to mid-off.

Having removed England teammate Dawid Malan with his previous delivery, Gregory was on a hat-trick, but he was oblivious to the wider context.

“The first I knew of it was when Leachy (Jack Leach) messaged to say congrats on 500 poles,” he admitted.

“I was like: ‘500 poles in what?’ and he told me. I just try and go out every day and do as well as I can, whether that is by picking up wickets or by scoring runs. I guess over a period of time they tally up. It is obviously a nice achievement, but hopefully there are plenty more in the tank.”

His first wicket was none other than Pakistan legend Shahid Afridi, not that he could recall it correctly: “I don’t remember my first although I know it was for Somerset against Pakistan – maybe Abdul Razzaq? I do remember my first in red-ball cricket though: it was a nice wide half-volley to Moeen Ali. He had a massive drive at and nicked off!”

As tournament debuts go, Gregory’s was an impressive one. He finished his four overs with 3 for 22, helping Heat notch their first win of the competition over the high-flying Hobart Hurricanes.

^{Gregory spent the first part of his winter in South Africa with England}

His side made hard work of the chase but ultimately got a much-needed boost after starting with three straight defeats, following on from a disappointing previous campaign, where they finished second bottom of the ladder.

That led to several big-names departures in the off-season: Matthew Renshaw, Ben Cutting, James Pattinson, Josh Lalor and Jack Prestwidge all moved on. Renshaw was Brisbane’s standout batsman last year, with 348 runs; Lalor was named in the team of the tournament and Cutting is both their all-time leading wicket taker and second-highest run-scorer.

Even among those who have remained, there have been plenty of absentees: Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne and Mitchell Swepson have all been on Australian Test duty, new-addition Morne Morkel suffered an ankle problem on the eve of the tournament and England star Tom Banton was a late withdrawal due to bubble-fatigue, with Joe Denly in isolation as he prepares to replace his compatriot. Dan Lawrence, too, has played his last game before joining up with England to tour Sri Lanka.

Given that backdrop, any win is a bonus. Although they fell to a one-run defeat against Hobart Hurricanes on Wednesday - Gregory chipping in 29 with the bat, he feels that momentum is shifting: Burns, dropped from Australia’s Test squad, Denly and Morkel are all set to appear in the clash with Sydney Sixers on January 2.

“Things haven’t gone our way and we have been missing a lot of players for all sorts of reasons. With a fair few faces not around some of the younger guys have been given opportunities, and that is great experience for them.

“When you lose a few games, you need to get back on the horse and the hardest thing can be to break that streak. On a losing run getting over the line is sometimes harder than it should be: we showed that on Sunday when we were cruising and made it hard work for ourselves.

“But the guys will take confidence from the win and the games come thick and fast now. Hopefully we can get on a bit on a bit of a roll and have some momentum before the experienced guys come back - then you never know how far we can go.”

Gregory missed the opening three rounds himself due to Australia’s strict quarantine requirements, with freedom coming on December 25.

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Upon his release, he headed downstairs for a champagne breakfast with fellow-detainees Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Josh Ball and Sam Billings, before being whisked off to the Gabba to meet his new teammates for Christmas lunch.

“It was just nice to talk to people face to face and have human interaction,” he admitted. “To be honest I found quarantining harder than I was expecting. I underestimated it.

“There was no face to face contact obviously so it was about trying to talk to people as much as possible when they were awake at home and staying busy. You just tick your way through really. The first few days were not too bad as I was jetlagged still and having naps in the afternoon to kill a bit more time.

“The next five to six days were tough – they were long days – but then the excitement gets you through the last couple. It is not a pleasant experience. Once you are there you haven’t really got a choice. You just have to get through it, although you definitely appreciate the freedom when you do get out!”

While Liam Livingstone revealed to The Cricketer that he and Perth Scorchers teammate Jason Roy formed a Call of Duty pact, Gregory is no gamer. Instead, he whittled away the hours using Netflix and the treadmill.

“I tried to get loads of series going and found the Blacklist. There were seven series of about 20 episodes, so I ploughed through a lot that. I didn’t quite watch all of them but I got through a decent proportion – I think I am somewhere early in season six.

“And the treadmill was delivered in box so one of the more entertaining afternoons was putting that together. It took a couple of hours but I got there in the end – it was a little bit fiddly. Luckily it didn’t fall apart when I was using it but I am sure it probably will when someone tries to move it!”

^{Gregory is representing Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash}

Early indications suggest that Gregory’s time in solitude will be worthwhile. If he started the tournament as an unknown quantity to many Australians, that could quickly shift.

His reputation has been growing for a few years: sustained success for Somerset led him to dip into the global T20 circus in late 2019 for the Rangpur Rangers in the BPL – he picked up 15 wickets.

He also started the PSL campaign well for Peshawar Zalmi before it was cut-short by the pandemic, and was due to lead Trent Rockets in the inaugural edition of The Hundred before its postponement.

While his days of registering 90mph plus on the speed gun might be gone - he did so regularly in the early stages of his career, plying his trade at Taunton has increased his versatility.

“You can’t just bowl a stock ball at Taunton,” he said. “It is a small ground and traditionally a very good surface to bat on, so you need to be unpredictable. T20 is all about keeping people guessing and I try and mix things up. What you can’t do is let guys get into a rhythm and hit through the line.

“I am not as quick as when I was 18 and the back was fresh, but I still feel like my quicker ball is quick enough – I was told I snuck up to 138kph on Sunday. But you have to adapt and improve.

“It is about being simple but smart at the same time. I bowl a knuckle-ball and the off-cutter – which I am also trying to get a little bit of top spin and dip on. With the pace on, it is about executing yorkers and bumpers but sometimes even when you do that it still goes for four or six – you have to accept that these days and focus on the next ball.”

Gregory’s performances over the past couple of years have also earned him a long-awaited shot at international cricket, having previously made squads in all three formats.

^{Gregory's international career is yet to take off}

By his own admission, he underwhelmed during the five games he played against New Zealand in November 2019, taking a solitary wicket in four overs and scoring just 21 runs in three innings.

He missed the cut for the South Africa tour that followed but returned to the fold when England rested several multi-format players for the Pakistan T20 series last summer.

He was also part of the ODI squad for last month’s ill-fated South Africa trip and is finally starting to feel at home in the England squad.

“I have not done as well as I would have liked but I feel I have settled in around the lads now,” he added. “For me I don’t think the step up in quality is huge – the biggest thing has been the feeling of belonging. It was similar when I started for Somerset: it took me a while to get that feeling there as well.

“It is a confidence thing, I guess. Some people are naturally very confident and believe in themselves straight away but for some guys it takes a little bit of time.

“I started to feel in South Africa that this is where I should be playing my cricket. It has been a strange year and that will continue for a while so hopefully there will be a few more opportunities to go out and prove I can play at that level.” 

The sustainability of bubble life is under the spotlight right now and Gregory has done his fair share of time.

For the allrounder, a lot depends on what else is going on at the same time, admitting he cut a more frustrated figure over the summer.

“In South Africa, there was no other cricket going on so it was just nice to be with the lads out there training and practising. In the summer it was trickier, even more so as I knew I wasn’t going to play at times unless there were a lot of injuries.  The county stuff had started: people were playing, being successful and winning games while you are stuffed in a hotel not being able to do anything.

“I just wanted to be out there playing cricket. It is what you do as a kid and you want to do what you love. Not being able to do that for a reason you can’t control is frustrating.”

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