"Dream come true" Scorchers young gun Connolly after Big Bash debut

Perth Scorchers young gun Cooper Connolly says making his debut for the club was an awesome experience.

The 19 year old all-rounder played his first game in orange in Saturday’s win over the Brisbane Heat, taking a catch and conceding 11 runs from his one over with the ball.

“It was a dream come true,” Connolly told Sports Breakfast.

“The morning of it was pretty nerve-wracking, I was nervous all day, couldn’t do much because I was just thinking about it, but once I got there, got around the boys a bit more, I was pretty calm.”

Connolly is no stranger to top-level cricket, having captained the Australian side at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup and the WA Second XI in red ball cricket, but said the atmosphere at Optus Stadium was a new challenge.

“It’s always nice when you’ve got 28,000 people behind you, but the one thing I took is it’s really tough to communicate, you can barely hear your teammates because it’s that loud,” he said.

“That’s more of a supporting thing for the team, we know everyone’s got each other’s backs.”

The Scorchers currently sit second on the BBL ladder with two games in hand on the first-placed Sydney Sixers, with Connolly saying strong personal relationships was the key to WA cricket’s ongoing success.

“I think what makes it what it is is that we’re all good blokes, we can all talk to each other no matter the situation, and we can always help each other out, whether it’s a tough decision or a nice decision for you,” he said.

“The culture is unbelievable, for someone at my age to join, and I was obviously very nervous, but I just feel like they’ve all been very supportive to me and communicated well with me.

“Little texts here and there just saying well done, so I feel like the culture is built perfectly.”

The Scorchers will resume hostilities with the Heat at the Gabba on Wednesday night, with Test stars Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja expected to be available for the hosts.

IMAGE: FILE