Jewell in the crown for Canes

CALEB Jewell won’t have to wait long to get his chance to impress for the Hobart Hurricanes.

The 21-year-old North Hobart product has received his first full BBL contract after being signed by the Hurricanes.

The left-hand top-order batsman will be part of the Hurricanes’ squad going to the Abu Dhabi Twenty20 competition next month, having flourished in the Hurricanes academy program, including a century against a touring Pakistan team and a 96 against Auckland last season.

“T20 probably wasn’t on the radar for me until the academy,” Jewell said.

“I had a few opportunities to play and just tried to hit the ball and it happened pretty quickly from there really.

“I haven’t really looked back to be honest. It has helped all formats of my game.”

Jewell has played three first-class games for Tasmania but none last season. However, he feels he is a far different player and person since his tentative debut.

“I’ve grown up a lot in even the last six months,” he said.

“Things didn’t go the way I wanted to the first couple of times but CT has put a bit of faith in me and I can’t wait to hopefully repay it.”

He had a taste of BBL cricket as an injury replacement last year but now can’t wait to be a fully fledged Hurricane for the upcoming summer.

“I’ll be ready no matter what,” he said.

“I will try and take my chance if I ever get one. It is too hard to tell now.

“It is going to be pretty cool to be a part of it all.”

The Hurricanes still have four spots left on their roster for this season. Hobart Hurricanes BBL08 squad to date: Jofra Archer (OS), George Bailey, Johan Botha, James Faulkner, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Tymal Mills (OS), David Moody, Tim Paine, Tom Rogers, D’Arcy Short, Matthew Wade.