Sonny Baker’s late bolt for a place on this winter’s Ashes tour will get underway when he makes his England debut in the first one-day international against South Africa in Leeds on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old fast bowler was one of the stars of this year’s Hundred, taking nine wickets at 16.22 and terrorising a series of world-class batters including Steve Smith, who he might come up against this winter, David Warner, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
Speaking to The i Paper last week, Simon Katich, the former Australia batter who is Baker’s coach at Manchester Originals, compared the youngster to Brett Lee, his former international teammate who is only one of three men to break the 100-miles-per-hour barrier.
Now England fans will get a chance to see what Baker can do on the international stage after the speedster was given the nod in the first of three ODIs against a South Africa team who have just completed a 2-1 50-over series victory against world champions Australia in their own backyard.
England captain Harry Brook confirmed Baker would open the bowling at Headingley, adding: “He’s been awesome in the Hundred. You’ve seen him bowl at some of the best batters in the world and he’s had them on toast.
Baker has starred in The Hundred (Photo: PA)“It has been really good to see. The spells he bowled to [Kane] Williamson and [David] Warner and then [Steve] Smith and [Jonny] Bairstow, all four are world-class batters and he was all over them. He was awesome to watch and everyone was talking about him.
“He bowls at high pace and he can swing it both ways with exceptional death skills as well. So to have him in the team and for him to be opening up tomorrow is awesome. I think there’s quite a lot of people excited to see where he goes.”
Brook remained coy about whether where Baker goes will include Australia this winter. Yet this does feel like an audition for the Ashes. “I don’t select the red-ball side but he’s obviously done really well and we’ll see how he goes here,” he said.
“Like I said he’s bowling with high pace and skill and it looks like he has a lot about him. He’s really excited for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to working with him.”
News of Baker’s debut was counterbalanced by the announcement from Jamie Overton he is taking an indefinite break from red-ball cricket. At 31, this feels like the end of the road for the fast bowler’s Test career. Of his two appearances, the last was a ragged performance against India in the final Test of a thrilling 2-2 series draw at The Oval.
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His decision has not only saved England from making a call on him for the Ashes but opened up a potential place for Baker.
Overton is in the squad for this ODI series but was overlooked for the first match and Brook admitted he was shocked by his announcement, saying: “I’d heard rumours but I hadn’t heard it from him until today. It’s unfortunate.”
With the next 50-over World Cup in southern Africa still two years away, the bigger picture for this series, one that comes after a 3-0 whitewash of the West Indies in June, is trying to build a group who can make a realistic challenge for that title. Blooding Baker is part of that.
“We’re trying to create an environment where we’re working towards something, like Morgs [2019 World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan] did when he took over years ago. South Africa will be a new challenge, slightly different to West Indies.”
What kind of shape South Africa will be in remains to be seen given they only arrived in the UK last Wednesday having travelled straight from Australia.
Captain Temba Bavuma and four of his teammates were at Anfield on Sunday to watch Liverpool’s 1-0 victory against Arsenal.
At Headingley, England will hope Baker can produce a few rockets of his own to rival Dominik Szoboszlai’s match-winning free-kick for the Premier League champions.
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