Giant quick sizes up the Poms
ENGLAND are hurriedly trying to come up with a plan to cut towering Australian paceman Billy Stanlake down to size in their T20 international in Hobart on Wednesday.
Stanlake is already in the history books as Australia’s tallest-ever cricketer - at 203cm - but he’s now letting his bowling do the talking.
The Adelaide Strikers quick made a major impact at the SCG on Saturday night, blowing away New Zealand’s top order in the opening game of the trans-Tasman T20 tri-series.
With Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all absent, he assumed strike bowling duties and removed Colin Munro, Martin Guptill and Tom Bruce in his first eight deliveries.
He now has England in his sights in Hobart and batsman Dawid Malan admitted the 23year-old’s impact had not gone unnoticed.
“You can’t really miss him, he’s a tall bloke,” said Malan.
“He looks a fantastic bowler, swings it when he pitches it up and bowls at good pace. I think he is going to be a challenge, but that’s the excitement of playing international cricket: you get to come up against guys like that.
“For us it’s about trying to put him off his game and finding ways to score off him.”
Stanlake’s height and delivery points can make him hard to judge and the Kiwis struggled to combat his pace and bounce in Sydney.
Malan spent longer than anyone in the nets on Monday while Jason Roy (back), Liam Plunkett and Chris Jordan (both hamstring) look to shrug off fitness doubts. Alex Hales is likely to be fit after hurting his hand in the final ODI at Perth.