logo
Big-hitting Owen receives another Aussie call-up

Big-hitting Owen receives another Aussie call-up

West Australian2 days ago
Big-hitting allrounder Mitch Owen is set to play his first ODI for Australia after making a stunning T20 debut against the West Indies.
The Hobart Hurricanes hero has been selected in both of Australia's white-ball squads for their upcoming matches against South Africa in Darwin, Cairns and Mackay.
On debut, Owen smashed a powerful fifty last week against the West Indies.
In four matches for Australia in the Caribbean, the 23-year-old averaged 41.66, also hitting 37 and 36 not out to go with his stunning debut knock.
It has been a rapid rise for Owen since last December, going from a virtual unknown before the BBL started to now being an important part of Australia's future.
"As we build towards the T20 World Cup the flexibility and depth shown in the West Indies, outside of the obvious results, has been a huge positive," chairman of selectors George Bailey said.
"The flexibility within the batting order and ability of bowlers to bowl in different stages of the innings were particularly pleasing to see.
"Mitch Owen and Matt Kuhnemann making their respective debuts and the preparation and work done by Nathan Ellis to allow him to play all five matches were highlights."
Three-format stars Travis Head and Josh Hazlewood return after resting for the 5-0 whitewash of the West Indies that followed the 3-0 win in the Test series.
Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins will sit out both series, allowing him to prepare for the Ashes, starting in November.
As expected Jake Fraser-McGurk has been axed after a torrid 12 months.
Fraser-McGurk was unexpectedly recalled to face the West Indies, but was dropped after the first match.
WA pair Cooper Connolly and Aaron Hardie have also made way, as has spinner Tanveer Sangha.
Australian T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Sean Abbott, Tim David, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.
Australian ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Lance Morris, Mitchell Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Ian Thorpe wants the swimmer who's matched his world title feats to also dominate a home Olympics
Ian Thorpe wants the swimmer who's matched his world title feats to also dominate a home Olympics

Sydney Morning Herald

timean hour ago

  • Sydney Morning Herald

Ian Thorpe wants the swimmer who's matched his world title feats to also dominate a home Olympics

'She's doggedly determined. I think most of us have had that in our own unique way. Her skills under pressure are remarkable. That has an impact on other athletes. They know that last big turn is coming from Mollie, and they factor it into the way they race her. I look more broadly, and I am getting excited. 'I don't believe Mollie or any athlete jumps into the pool when they're young or makes their first national team and says, 'I want to accomplish this many world championship gold medals because it's more than someone else'. It doesn't factor into what you're doing.' O'Callaghan, who turned 21 in April, competed at her first Olympics in Tokyo as a 17-year-old before winning her maiden world title the following year in Budapest. She picked up 100m freestyle gold in 2022 and 2023, as well as 200m freestyle gold in 2023 and again this week. Thorpe won 400m freestyle gold as a 15-year-old at the 1998 world championships before becoming an Australian hero at the Sydney Olympics by claiming three gold and two silver at a home Games. Thorpe's 11 world titles came in the 1998, 2001 and 2003 world championships. At his peak, the 'Thorpedo' held individual world records in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle. O'Callaghan was born in Brisbane in 2004 and will be 28 when the Olympics arrive in Australia in her home town. 'I hope to see Mollie continue for a home Olympic Games,' Thorpe said. 'I want as many athletes - current ones and those who we don't really know about - to experience that. 'The events might be slightly different, but when it comes to an Olympics at home, there's a tremendous lure to do it. She won't know whether she wants to for another three years.' Australian swimming was in excellent health in 2000, and it is arguably better now, with the Dolphins consistently challenging the USA on the medal tally. Loading 'What was amazing about the Sydney Olympics was the swimmers who stuck around for another Olympics. They were some of the biggest names swimming has produced,' Thorpe said. 'Swimmers like Susie O'Neill, Kieren Perkins, Hayley Lewis and Daniel Kowalski. 'What that meant for our team was that there was a great transition to the younger swimmers in the lead up to that Olympics and then post-Games. We also had great investment in sport in the lead-up.' 'She's part of telling a story about swimming in this country, and we continue to be successful. I love that for Mollie, and she's potentially going to be a leader when it comes to future Olympic Games.'

Ian Thorpe wants the swimmer who's matched his world title feats to also dominate a home Olympics
Ian Thorpe wants the swimmer who's matched his world title feats to also dominate a home Olympics

The Age

timean hour ago

  • The Age

Ian Thorpe wants the swimmer who's matched his world title feats to also dominate a home Olympics

'She's doggedly determined. I think most of us have had that in our own unique way. Her skills under pressure are remarkable. That has an impact on other athletes. They know that last big turn is coming from Mollie, and they factor it into the way they race her. I look more broadly, and I am getting excited. 'I don't believe Mollie or any athlete jumps into the pool when they're young or makes their first national team and says, 'I want to accomplish this many world championship gold medals because it's more than someone else'. It doesn't factor into what you're doing.' O'Callaghan, who turned 21 in April, competed at her first Olympics in Tokyo as a 17-year-old before winning her maiden world title the following year in Budapest. She picked up 100m freestyle gold in 2022 and 2023, as well as 200m freestyle gold in 2023 and again this week. Thorpe won 400m freestyle gold as a 15-year-old at the 1998 world championships before becoming an Australian hero at the Sydney Olympics by claiming three gold and two silver at a home Games. Thorpe's 11 world titles came in the 1998, 2001 and 2003 world championships. At his peak, the 'Thorpedo' held individual world records in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle. O'Callaghan was born in Brisbane in 2004 and will be 28 when the Olympics arrive in Australia in her home town. 'I hope to see Mollie continue for a home Olympic Games,' Thorpe said. 'I want as many athletes - current ones and those who we don't really know about - to experience that. 'The events might be slightly different, but when it comes to an Olympics at home, there's a tremendous lure to do it. She won't know whether she wants to for another three years.' Australian swimming was in excellent health in 2000, and it is arguably better now, with the Dolphins consistently challenging the USA on the medal tally. Loading 'What was amazing about the Sydney Olympics was the swimmers who stuck around for another Olympics. They were some of the biggest names swimming has produced,' Thorpe said. 'Swimmers like Susie O'Neill, Kieren Perkins, Hayley Lewis and Daniel Kowalski. 'What that meant for our team was that there was a great transition to the younger swimmers in the lead up to that Olympics and then post-Games. We also had great investment in sport in the lead-up.' 'She's part of telling a story about swimming in this country, and we continue to be successful. I love that for Mollie, and she's potentially going to be a leader when it comes to future Olympic Games.'

Max Gawn: Inside Melbourne skipper's remarkable captaincy reign
Max Gawn: Inside Melbourne skipper's remarkable captaincy reign

Herald Sun

time2 hours ago

  • Herald Sun

Max Gawn: Inside Melbourne skipper's remarkable captaincy reign

Max Gawn doesn't need a statue erected in his likeness when Melbourne eventually finds a new home base. He needs someone to get on to the powers that be in Rome and wrangle up a sainthood. As the Demons were picking up the pieces of another gut-wrenching, soul-destroying loss that could help decide Simon Goodwin's fate there was Gawn again. Explaining why they sky hadn't fallen in (it had), spruiking a new dawn, backing the club to front up against West Coast in a contest it just cannot lose under any circumstances. Gawn is officially Melbourne's captain. In reality he is everything to this club. He has been a part-time nanny when Clayton Oliver was struggling off the field, opening up his home to the Demons star. He has been a part-time mediator, when teammates Jake Melksham and Steven May brawled outside the Entrecote restaurant. He has been a full-time psychoanalyst, desperately attempting to decipher Christian Petracca's motivations when he suddenly turned against the club after initially appearing happy with its support over his King's Birthday injury. This year he turned crisis-manager when coach Goodwin unwittingly exposed a family health issue when he spoke of the 'backstory' behind his on-field thrashing from Tristan Xerri. And he resisted the temptation to throw May under the bus when his teammate's reaction to his shanked kick against Collingwood was to repeatedly get in his face. What must he truly have wanted to say to May after all the messes he has cleaned up? All this from a captain who has had to spend the past two years backing his coach over a series of headlines over his alleged behavioural issues. And yet despite it all he is still firmly on track for an eighth All-Australian jumper in 10 seasons. He isn't flawless – of his 21 shots at goal this year he has kicked 4.14 and three total misses, even worse than Petracca's 15.21 and 13 total misses (15 goals from 49 shots). But he is pretty close to perfect. Former Carlton captain Marc Murphy can remember the late-night calls and crisis discussions that often came with leading a team through those ups and downs, with his final year at the helm a two-win 2018 season. 'I have been there plenty of times. You get the call from the coach or head of football or president or CEO late at night and it can never be a good thing,' he said on Friday. 'I remember those times. It's almost like, 'Not again, what has happened here'. 'The one thing is that it can take the energy out of your own performances, having those spotfires always constantly bobbing up and take away from your own game. 'Sometimes it can wear you down for the long-term and reduce the amount of seasons you play. But if you look at Max, some guys feed off it. They enjoy playing that role. They enjoy being across everything. He might be a guy who enjoys all the different aspects of it. 'He might really enjoy it. To me he seems the perfect captain. He doesn't get bogged down by the minutiae, he is laid back. And I assume he is one of those guys who just says, 'I am up for the job and want to keep doing it'. Thankfully within Melbourne there is no suggestion Gawn is keen to give up the captaincy, even if at 33 he should be transitioning into his football dotage like Scott Pendlebury. But the issue for Melbourne is that there is no real Darcy Moore type coming along behind him. Gawn's innate skill is finding that beautiful balance between getting on with everyone and realising their own motivations while also being able to deliver blunt feedback. Vice-captain Jack Viney is a strong leader but only knows one way to improve – train harder, work longer, give 110 per cent. Viney would want to concentrate on his own form anyway given his struggles this year, while Jake Lever is 29 and has already been dropped this year amid trade speculation. Petracca has responded in exactly the right way within the club to his annus horribilis and has had a sneaky strong year marred by very ordinary kicking. But given his determination to leave last year he would not be a contender even if Gawn was desperate to hand over the leadership. Tom Sparrow is another emerging leader but apart from him the list isn't exactly oozing leadership potential. It is why it is so easy to make the case that Gawn is the best captain in football. He has held this group together through sheer will and bloody-mindedness while also finding time to thrive as an AFL great. And he will do it again next year as the captain. He might not get his sainthood but like his great mentor Jimmy Stynes he will be as revered as the Demons champions of last century who seemingly won premierships for fun in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store