Liam Scott’s superb form in domestic cricket earned him an Australian white-ball debut in Dhaka, but it’s improvements to his red-ball game that the South Australian hopes will keep him on the radar of national selectors.
The 25-year-old wasn’t expecting a tap on the shoulder ahead of Australia’s limited-overs tour of Pakistan and Bangladesh earlier this year.
However the allrounder was rewarded for consistent performances across national competitions with an ODI cap, and having just experienced international cricket, he’s now hunting for more.
Following nine appearances for Australia A last year, the two-time Sheffield Shield champion was named the player of the season for a sublime 2025-26 campaign that featured 496 runs and 23 wickets.
The right-hander was just one of nine batters to average more than 40 during the regular season (41.33), highlighted by a maiden first-class century in December in their round six match against Tasmania.
The award was Scott’s second domestic accolade in two seasons after he was voted the One-Day Cup player of the season when SA won the title in 2024-25.
Scott’s returns in the Big Bash were just as impressive last season as he put together a career-best 310-run tournament at an average of 51.66 for the Adelaide Strikers to earn himself a spot in the KFC BBL|15 team of the tournament.
With form across all three formats Scott is daring to dream ahead of a new summer of cricket.
While a Baggy Green seems unlikely in the coming months with fellow allrounders Cameron Green and Beau Webster currently members of Australia’s Test squad, Scott said his experience with the ODI team has motivated him to be involved in more international cricket, noting Australia’s busy schedule could open the door for more opportunities in the near future.
“There’s a few guys that are getting a tad older rather than getting younger, so there’s probably going to be change and opportunities at some stage,” Scott said.
“There’s a lot of Test cricket and in saying that, there’s a lot of other cricket as well. One-day cricket (and) T20 cricket, so there’s no doubt there’ll be opportunities in some space.
“As a player and as cricketer, it’s a pretty brutal game and you can’t get too far ahead of yourself because as soon as you do that, something slips and you’re back on the drawing board.
“Hopefully, I’m playing good at the right time, and I think timing is everything. If you’re making runs and taking wickets when you need to, then you’re obviously in the shop window, so hopefully that’s me.”
Australia’s ageing squad has begun a mammoth 12-month period that features a minimum of 20 Tests (21 if they make the World Test Championship final) that started with the shock defeat to Bangladesh in Darwin, and will culminate in the 2027 Ashes tour.
Included in this period is a run of 10 Tests in 14 weeks between early-December and mid-March shaping as the most taxing fixture ever handed to an Australian team.
Australia’s bumper Test schedule
August: Two Tests v Bangladesh (home)
October: Three Tests v South Africa (away)
December-January: Four Tests v New Zealand (home)
January-March: Five Tests v India (away)
March 11-15: 150th year anniversary Test v England (home)
June: WTC Final, if qualified (The Oval, England)
June-August: Five Tests v England (away)
Outside of the Test format, Australia will play two, three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe and South Africa this September, before both nations and Namibia host the ODI World Cup in late-2027, where Pat Cummins’ men will look to defend their 2023 title won in Ahmedabad.
They’ll also be facing England at home in three ODIs and two T20 internationals across November and December this year, and they’re expected to play more white-ball cricket in the Northern Territory following next year’s men’s Ashes series.
The sheer amount of cricket has Scott optimistic about his chances of returning to an Australia squad soon, although he admitted to making slight adjustments learned from his time in the national setup to continue producing strong performances across all formats.
“I think now I’ve had that taste I just want to get back there and try and play as much cricket as I can for Australia,” Scott said.
“For me (there’s) little elements of keep getting get better against spin, opportunities to score… trying to score 360 and a bit of power-hitting stuff as well,” Scott said.
“Those sort of things I’ve tried to add to my game a little bit. Just being in different conditions, I think hopefully when I get the opportunity or if I get the opportunity to go back and play in those conditions, I feel as though I’m well-equipped and can adapt a bit quicker than probably what I did when I was over there.
“Bowling-wise (it’s) just little technical stuff that has allowed me to maybe pick up a little bit of pace. In saying that, I feel like what I’ve got is good enough, so if I get that opportunity again, I’m looking forward to making the most of it.”
Having recently returned to Adelaide following a stint with Gloucestershire in England’s T20 competition, Scott’s next assignment is eyeing a third successive first-class title with South Australia this season.
Under head coach Ryan Harris, SA have claimed three titles in two years across the Shield and One-Day Cup competitions and Scott believes there’s no reason as to why the squad can’t add more silverware in the 2026-27 season.
“At the moment we’ve got a really really strong squad and I think we’ve seen the last couple of years we’ve been tested in terms of our depth.” Scott said.
“But with such a strong squad, any player that comes in can really help win games committing for the state and I think that’s no different this year.
“We’ve added some more players which I think can play a crucial role in going back-to-back to-back, so everyone here has one goal, and that’s to win trophies for South Australia.”
SA’s men’s squad will begin their 2026-27 season against Western Australia at the WACA Ground in the One-Day Cup on September 18.
The back-to-back Shield champions will start their first-class title defence on October 7 in a rematch of last season’s decider against Victoria at Junction Oval.
