Injury and illness has wracked Australia's ODI squad, and opened the door for the wavy-haired, guitar- and didgeridoo-playing Mahli Beardman to make his mark
Mahli Beardman is one step closer to a shock international debut with Australia set to lose another fast bowler for the duration of their UK tour.
Ben Dwarshuis' maiden one-day international lasted just four overs before he suffered a bizarre pectoral injury while throwing off-balance from the outfield.
While the injury will be fully assessed later Friday UK time, his place in the touring squad for the remaining four ODIs is in serious doubt.
Australia will have to dip deep into their domestic pace reserves if they choose to replace him, with Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith and Spencer Johnson already sidelined through injury.
Pat Cummins is also absent from this month's tour as he focuses on strength and conditioning ahead of the five-Test home summer against India, while West Australian speedsters Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris are being carefully managed through domestic returns after a string of recent injuries.
Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc both missed Thursday's series opener with illness, while Sean Abbott had an off night, conceding 50 runs from five overs before spin took over and pace wasn't required for the final 18 overs of England's innings.
Hazlewood bowled at high intensity in the warm-up and is expected to return on Saturday in Leeds (beginning 8pm AEST), while Starc is improving and could also come into consideration.
If not, it leaves Beardman, the 19-year-old tearaway born in the Margaret River region southwest of Perth and raised in the remote Pilbara town of Dampier, as the next specialist quick in the queue after joining the 17-man squad as a standby for the ODI series.
While there's certainly more experienced bowlers among domestic ranks, Australia have previously shown a willingness to blood generational fast bowlers young, and Beardman is part of a crop of teenage quicks earmarked as a group that could eventually take over from the nation's 'big three'.
Cummins got his first taste of international cricket aged 18 in a T20 against South Africa in Cape Town in 2011, while Hazlewood was 19 and Starc 20 when they played their first ODIs in 2010 against England and India respectively.
Asked during his first training session with the Australian squad who his game most closely resembled, the wavy-haired, guitar- and didgeridoo-playing right-armer sheepishly said Cummins, but once you get to know him it's not hard to see why.
Like Cummins, Beardman has consistently hit high speeds from a young age and showed during the Under-19 men's World Cup earlier this year, which included a player-of-the-final 3-15 to down underage powerhouses India, that he has a tactical nous to match.
And having grown up around the likes of famous musicians such as Bernard Fanning who played with his dad Qynn, a renowned instrumentalist and musical educator in WA, he carries himself with a poise that draws certain parallels to the nation's men's Test captain.
"I take a lot of inspiration from him (Cummins), but obviously that's a very large figure to compare myself to so if I'm one-sixteenth as good as what Pat's been, I'd be very happy," Beardman said on Wednesday.
Despite his raw talent and being able to nudge the mid-140kph range, Beardman also has a maturity beyond that of someone who has played just one senior match for his state.
He's been incredibly diligent this pre-season – his second as a rookie with Western Australia – abstaining from alcohol and working with nutritionists to help him get more of an "edge" from his diet.
He's also delved into the mental side of his game with WA Cricket psychologist Jack Hudson-Williams to help him better understand the power of his mind.
"I've been doing a lot of visualisation to try make sure that my mental strength is there," he told cricket.com.au last month after signing his first Big Bash contract with Perth Scorchers.
"I feel like I'm in a good place physically, but I feel like a lot of people and a lot of athletes can get undone by the mental aspect of the game.
"So that's been a big focus for me for this pre-season to try and be equal across all playing fields and making sure that I'm paying attention to what's going on in my mind as well … (so) I'm in the right head space and can compete to my full potential."
Having dealt with his share of back stress fractures early in his career as well as osteitis pubis, Beardman understands that his body is his biggest asset, both physically and mentally.
"It's definitely built resilience I feel, it makes me not take anything for granted anymore," he said.
"Each game that I play, I'm grateful to be out there.
"It's a fine line with me obviously wanting to get out there and just unleash and bowl as quick as I can, which I love doing and that's my passion.
"Injuries are going to come along, it's just part of the trade to be honest and there's not much we can do about that.
"But it's trying to minimise how often they're occurring.
"I'm tracking my workloads through the AMS (Athlete Management System) and making sure that I'm not going into any overload or bowling too much.
"It's been communicated very clearly (to me) that it's a long-term thing and fast bowling isn't going to be something that I'm able to do at the click of a finger.
"It's a long process of being in the gym, working hard, building my body up strong, making sure I get seasons under my belt, trying to increase my body density and all of these things.
"There's a very clear plan from what we're doing and the WACA have been incredible for that.
"I'm just looking at this year to grow as a cricketer and soak up more information and not be too game orientated based."
It's exactly the reason why he was plucked from underage cricket to tour with the Australian squad, to gain the experience to help fast-track him into the national setup – it's just now a senior debut could be closer than even the selectors saw coming.
Qantas Tour of the UK 2024
Australia T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood (England games only), Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Riley Meredith, Matt Short (England games only), Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa
September 4: Australia beat Scotland by seven wickets
September 6: Australia beat Scotland by 70 runs
September 7: Australia beat Scotland by six wickets
September 11: Australia beat England by 28 runs
September 13: England beat Australia by three wickets
September 15: Match abandoned
Australia ODI squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa. Reserve: Mahli Beardman
September 19: Australia beat England by seven wickets
September 21: Second ODI v England, Headingley, Leeds, 8pm AEST
September 24: Third ODI v England, Riverside, Chester-le-Street, 9.30pm AEST
September 27: Fourth ODI v England, Lord's, London, 9.30pm AEST
September 29: Fifth ODI v England, County Ground, Bristol, 8pm AEST
