Last Updated on 52 minutes ago by Charbel Coorey
International cricket may not be too far away for Fergus O’Neill. The seam bowler has an exceptional First Class record with 200 wickets at 19.43 plus 1,679 runs at 26.65, and conditions around the world could see him gain an opportunity soon.
In the ongoing England-Pakistan Test series, Ollie Robinson and Mohammad Abbas have enjoyed success. Like O’Neill, Robinson and Abbas focus on accuracy and have the ability to nip the ball both ways off the seam.
Also, bowlers operating with the keeper up is wreacking havoc, with even the great Joe Root having difficulty countering the tactic.
Fergus O’Neill backs himself to succeed in international cricket
O’Neill has made a career of that so far, and if conditions remain the way they are, he can be a significant asset for Australia. He believes he can complement Australia’s faster bowlers well.
“I think there’s a fire and ice piece, like playing with Tonguey (Josh Tongue) and these kind of guys, Olly Stone for Notts, and even last year here with Moods (David Moody) when he was bowling fast a couple times,” O’Neill said, as quoted by CODE Sports.
“It feels like there’s a good bit of fire and ice, and with the keeper coming up and that kind of stuff that’s coming into the game, being able to keep the batters trapped, I suppose, definitely holds some weight.”
One source of doubt among the critics is O’Neill’s sub-130km/h pace. However, he says maintaining his skill trumps the need to increase his pace significantly.
“I’m not going to try and be something I’m not, and all of a sudden, start doing ridiculous bench press and trying to bowl 150 kilometres, but I just got to get better at what you know I can do, and I do understand that if I can bring my speed up in small increments, I’m going to be exponentially better as long as I hold the same level of skill,” he said.
“So I definitely feel like there’s a sweet spot in that regard, but I’m certainly not trying to reinvent the wheel and all of a sudden, bowl 150.”
O’Neill has been selected for Australia A’s four-day squad for the upcoming tour of India. Indian conditions will be a test of O’Neill’s skill, provided Australia don’t select him in the Test squad for the South Africa tour.
