Mitch Owen didn’t give himself a single delivery to settle into international cricket, revealing he tried to “get after West Indies from ball one” on his way to becoming just the third Australian man to hit a T20 half-century on debut.
Owen quipped post-match that he missed his first ball at international level “by two metres” as he tried to deposit spinner Gudakesh Motie onto the Kingston Cricket Club roof, but said it was part of a calculated plan to put the pressure back on the bowler from the outset, no matter who the opponent.
It’s an approach that’s yielded incredible success over the past eight months for the 23-year-old, and it again proved the case on Sunday night in Jamaica as he slammed 51 from 27 balls to fire Australia to a series-opening win.
Owen arrived at the crease with Australia under pressure at 4-78 and needing a partnership to overhaul West Indies 8-189, and his 80-run fifth-wicket stand with Cameron Green (51 off 26) proved the defining one of the match.
The right-hander’s debut knock saw him join an elite club featuring Ricky Ponting (98 not out v New Zealand in 2005) and David Warner (89 v South Africa in 2009) as the only Aussie batters to hit a half-century on T20 international debut.
“I’ve had a few debuts where I’ve got a duck, so it’s nice to get some runs first game,” Owen told cricket.com.au following Australia’s three-wicket win with seven balls remaining.
“I’m mainly happy that we’ve got the win and get this five-game campaign off and running.
“It was the first time I’ve been on the same side as ‘Greeny’ so it was nice to be out there with him and contribute to a pretty good partnership.
“We kept each other nice and calm and just stuck to our processes.”
Despite his success in his breakthrough Big Bash campaign for Hobart Hurricanes last summer and his player-of-the-tournament Major League Cricket campaign prior to joining the Australian squad coming opening the batting, the Tasmanian allrounder slotted in seamlessly to his new middle-order finishing role for his country.
Owen said he took the fielders out of the equation when he walked to the middle at No.6 in the unfamiliar situation of having five on the boundary to start his innings as opposed to two when facing the new ball.
“I honestly tried not to look at the field too much and just reacted to each ball, which I think held me a good stead,” he said.
“Obviously, it’s a little bit different but my process and my game plan wasn’t too different to opening the batting and coming in at six.
“We had to strike at 10 (runs per over) when I came out, so I still had to be nice and positive; if I took my time to try and get into the innings, I feel like I (would have) dug myself a hole.
“So I just tried to get after them from ball one.”
Owen also took a wicket with his third ball after coming on in the 16th over, picking up the vital scalp of West Indies captain Shai Hope for 55 to kick start a dream debut game.
He revealed he was “pretty nervous” running into bowl after being hit for six by Shimron Hetmyer with his first delivery in international cricket, but if there were any nerves when he walked out to bat in the run chase, it didn’t show.
Owen’s first scoring shot for Australia was a swatted straight six off retiring veteran Andre Russell and he cleared the rope six times in total – all his boundaries were sixes – on his way to player-of-the-match honours.
“I swung pretty hard on my first ball too, which I missed my two meters,” Owen said.
“But my process has been simple over the last six to eight months, I just try to be really positive and put the pressure back on the bowler.
“I was lucky enough that we got a few away early and then we could just continue with that.”
Captain Mitch Marsh said the squad was pumped for their newest member.
“Anytime you get a young kid that comes in and performs like that in his first game for Australia, it’s really exciting,” he said.
“I’m sure there will be lots of people – it’s mid-morning back home – that would have watched that.
“We want him to come in here and be as relaxed as possible. We understand he’s going to be nervous playing for Australia but we’re trying to create an environment where he can hopefully keep doing that for us.”
Qantas Tour of the West Indies
First T20I: Australia won by three wickets
Second T20I: July 22, Kingston, Jamaica (July 23, 10am AEST)
Third T20I: July 25, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 26, 9am AEST)
Fourth T20I: July 26, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 27, 9am AEST)
Fifth T20I: July 28, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 29, 9am AEST)
West Indies T20 squad: Shai Hope (c), Jewel Andrew, Jediah Blades, Roston Chase, Matthew Forde (St Kitts only), Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Brandon King, Evin Lewis, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Andre Russell (Kingston only), Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd
Australia’s T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Adam Zampa
