James Faulkner, who was regarded among the best all-rounders in the game some years ago, has disappeared from Australia’s squads despite being a World Cup hero.
Player-of-the-Match in the 2015 ODI World Cup final against New Zealand, Faulkner’s last international appearance was against India in an ODI game in 2017.
Although he’s not in the selection reckoning for a while, Faulkner is starting to make his presence felt once again. Playing for Lahore Qalandars in the second phase of PSL 2021 in Abu Dhabi, the Aussie claimed 13 wickets in 6 games at an impressive economy rate of 6.50.
After his stellar showing, Faulkner is likely to fetch lucrative contracts in T20 leagues around the world while he is yet to commit to a return with the Hobart Hurricanes in Big Bash League (BBL) 11.
"It's something my manager and I will sit down and look at with all the leagues going on around the world," Faulkner told cricket.com.au in an exclusive chat on Wednesday (June 30).
"(Joining the T20 circuit) is probably the most realistic thing for me to be doing, I know I'm not going to be playing Test cricket again, or four-day cricket either.
"There's potential for one-day cricket but after having a couple of months off after the last Big Bash, then going into the PSL and playing six games in 10 days and performing reasonably as well, I got a lot of confidence out of that.
"That's probably the angle that I'll go at. I've got to weigh up what offers are on the table and map it out."
Faulkner's last BBL appearance was in December 2020 against Brisbane Heat when he limped off four balls into his second over at the Gabba. He later aggravated the injury during training session and was ruled out of the tournament.
With the COVID-19 situation forcing the ICC to shift the T20 World Cup 2021 from India to UAE, Faulkner’s insights on the Abu Dhabi pitch would be beneficial for the Australian think tank.
“It's definitely a new-ball wicket for the bowlers there. Pace-off on any ground works but it was a little bit grippy there,” Faulkner said.
"You had to really cash in with the new ball on those pitches and take early wickets. If you could do that, the game was in your favour.
"Then at the back end in T20 you can definitely score heavily. Everyone knows that, but in particular on those grounds once the ball gets a bit softer, it just flies away there. They're the two things that really stood out," he further remarked.
(Inputs from cricket.com.au)
