Australia’s out-of-favor all-rounder James Faulkner has not given up on his hopes of making a comeback for Tasmania state cricket, as the 2015 World Cup winner has confirmed that he'll be pushing for one-day selection this summer despite not being contracted by the Tigers.
The 30-year-old has been omitted from Tasmania's contract list for the 2020-21 season, but the pacer insisted he still has a role to play for the Tigers since he is in constant touch with the state team.
Read Also: T20 World Cup isn’t going to happen in Australia this year, reckons Dean Jones
In recent years, Faulkner’s career has been badly hit by the chronic knee problems and which he could play just one first-class game in the past three years and even the all-rounder admitted that his physical limitations played role in his dried red-ball career and even his return to Australia side.
However, the all-rounder has yet again insisted that he wants to play for as long as he can and he is keen to make a comeback in one-day cricket for Tasmania despite now his priority is to play for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League (BBL).
The hard-hitting batsman has represented Australia in 69 ODIs and 24 T20s so far but he hasn’t recalled to the national set-up since 2017. He also played a lone Test match for his country in 2013.
Faulkner told cricket.com.au: “I'm still available to play, I'm still training, I'm still on the Zoom calls with the squad and the team chats. Obviously, I want to play for as long as I can.”
The paceman further explained, “Throughout last season I was speaking to Griffo (Tasmania's head of high-performance Adam Griffith) and Wadey (state captain Matthew Wade) about what I was potentially going to do, what the plan could be, that maybe I don't sign but still play.
It gives them the option to sign someone else, add a bit more depth to the squad. I'm still contracted to the Hurricanes and that's the main priority for Cricket Tas and myself, to be fit and ready to go because the last couple of years I've done pretty well with them. And then I will still be available for the one-dayers and play in them if I'm fit and they want to play me, and vice-versa.”
Faulkner’s three-year BBL deal with Hurricanes set to end this year and he aims to extend the contract after having two good seasons with the BBL side.
He further added, “The last couple of years I've had in Hobart with the Hurricanes has been some of the most fun I've had playing cricket. My main goal at the moment is to get fit and I will do bits and pieces of pre-season here, while not having a contract gives me more flexibility around working in the hospitality industry around Hobart.”
On his knee injury that cruelled his ambitions, the all-rounder said: “The knees have been pretty good since I stopped playing four-day cricket. My knees were just copping it; I wasn't getting through at all.”
He signed off by saying, “I do miss it obviously, I loved playing Shield cricket for Tasmania. But in one-day and 20-over cricket I'm coping fine and I'm enjoying it.”
(With cricket.com.au Inputs)
