West Australian Batsman Teague Wyllie says he wants to keep developing the leadership aspects of his game after captaining the Perth Scorchers to the Top End T20 Series title. 

The 21-year-old was handed captaincy duties during the semi-final and final, where his side went on to beat Adelaide Strikers by 15 runs in Darwin last weekend. 

Wyllie, who has also captained Rockingham-Mandurah in Premier Cricket and the WA Under 19s side, told SportFM he foundthere were some key differences between captaining Grade and T20 cricket. 

“Obviously, the intensity goes up quite a notch,” he said.

“When you’re put under pressure to that extent, especially in the final where we’re defending 200 but they get pretty close, they put you under a bit of pressure and just managing field changes and blokes hit you in different areas. 

“Especially when you play teams like Pakistan in the semi-final, there’s blokes who hit the ball in to funny areas and subcontinental players with their wrists and they just find a way to hit the ball into a gap.

“It was quite different having to manage that but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Leadership in captaincy is something that I want to keep developing in my game. 

“To be able to make a few runs in the final as well as being captain was nice.”

Perth Scorchers claimed the title off the back of a stellar partnership between Wyllie and  wicketkeeper-batsman Baxter Holt, where the duo combined for 164 runs, setting up an imposing run chase of 206 runs for their opponents.

Holt did much of the heavy lifting in the partnership, notching up 114 runs from 63 balls, but he was adequately supported by his skipper, who made 56 off 44, down the other end. 

However, it took Holt a little while to find his rhythm, scoring just 23 runs from 25 balls. But the next 38 were a different story, as he smashed 91 runs to bring up his century. 

Wyllie says it was ‘perfect timing’ for Holt, who otherwise has a relatively quiet tournament, to switch it on.

“Baxter played absolutely amazing,” said Wyllie.

“He got off to a slow start…he was saying to me, ‘I feel like I’m clinking him.’ After about the 10th over, he switched gears. 

He dominated spin. He’s one of the best players of spin I’ve seen with his sweeps and reverse sweeps. 

“We took the power surge in the 16th over, and he scored 30 to 35 runs off that power surge. I faced one ball of it. He got to face quite a few with only two sweepers out. 

“When you’re as dynamic a player as him, he just manages to hit boundaries off good balls. So absolutely pumped for him.”

With the Sheffield Shield season around the corner, Wyllie’s focus will turn to preparing for the red ball season. 

Western Australia will look to rebound from a rocky season where they slipped to last place after claiming three straight titles between 2021 and 2024.  

Wyllie says he will be vying for a place in the WA batting lineup, with some tough competition to beat to claim a spot. 

“Last year, Jayden and Fanno were picked ahead of me for most of the year, and I think that’s obviously fair. They did really well,” he said.

“For me, we’ve got a few intra-squad practice games, so if I do well there, hopefully that puts my name forward.  

“I don’t like to compare myself with those guys too much obviously, we’re really good mates all of us and I’m pumped when they do well. 

“All I can do is just keep making runs and at the end of the day runs are currency. If I make enough of them, hopefully that puts me at the front and gets me some games.” 

IMAGE: Top End T20 Media