TAKING IT SLOWLY IS BEST APPROACH FOR BILLY
TALL, fast and dangerous, Billy Stanlake is a fast bowler going places … but even he is not sure where.
The Gold Coast product’s next stop is India with the Australia A squad for a 50over series starting next week and the prospect of him going to England next year for the World Cup as Australia’s fast bowling X Factor is on the radar.
But the most provocative question of all – when or if he will play Test cricket – continues to hang in the air because there is no concrete date approved for him to continue his Sheffield Shield career for Queensland which stand at just two matches played three years ago.
He is likely to step out for the Bulls’ Sheffield Shield team some time this summer, fitness permitting.
Few players get it all when it comes to fast bowling and the trade-off for being the tallest Australian fast bowler of all time is that his 204cm frame has at times cracked under the strain of this demanding art.
Though injuries great and small – such as a toe problem last season – have plagued his career, his confidence in his body is growing slowly and steadily by the season.
“In the past the hardest part has been getting to the point where you are just ticking along nicely,’’ Stanlake said.
“I am slowly getting to that point where I have played the last 18 months without any major setbacks.
“That is the challenge … keeping the body in good nick but staying on the park.
“It has been great getting back to play some 50 over cricket which I have not done for a while but let’s take it one step at a time.”