In his second season in the BBL, Mahli Beardman has made himself a strong case to make the T20 World Cup side off the back of a stellar second season with the Scorchers.
Taking just 2 wickets and bowling 2 innings in the 2024/25 season he has made a major improvement in his bowling, taking 11 total wickets for the season and bowling in 10 innings.
Beardman is travelling with the side to Pakistan, accompanied by Scorchers teammate Cooper Connolly who has already been selected for his fantastic craft as an all-rounder.
SportFM spoke to former Australian test cricketer and BBL commentator Mike Hussey this morning.
“He’s [Connolly] certainly leading the wickets for the Perth Scorchers, which is incredible, and that’s the beauty of being an all-rounder. If things aren’t quite going right with one discipline, you’ve still got an opportunity to contribute,” he said.
Hussey was exceptionally pleased with Beardman’s talent at 20 years old and wouldn’t put it past selectors to give the youngster a game on the world stage.
“It’d be a big call from selectors, but they obviously like what they see.”
“They’ve got him involved in the Australian squad going to Pakistan, so that sort of tells him that he must be pretty close.”
Beardman took 3 wickets in Perth’s final against the Sixers on Tuesday, demonstrating excellent composure in front of a crowd of 55,000 at Optus Stadium.
“The way he evolved beautifully in that first final against the Sydney Sixers the other day with good pace and good control was fantastic.”
Various injury concerns trouble the current T20 World Cup line-up, with Josh Hazlewood already having sat out the Ashes series and having a relatively quiet summer of cricket.
Signs are looking promising for an opportunity to arrive in Pakistan for Beardman, giving him the first of many opportunities to develop into an Australian first class cricketer.
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