Conceding 76 runs in seven overs on your international debut is far from ideal, further marred by the fact that it gives you the most expensive figures for an English bowler on ODI debut. 12 fours, 2 sixes, and 4 wides is a difficult way to start your international career, but a resilient Sonny Baker, more recently blemished by his T20I debut in Malahide, is keen to take what he can from these setbacks.
“From a figures point of view, it was obviously not exactly how I’d planned my (ODI) debut going, but not all good experiences are enjoyable experiences.”
Sitting in the England team’s hotel lobby, 24 hours ahead of his T20I debut in England’s final match of the summer, having first made sure to introduce himself to those waiting to question him, the 22-year-old came packed with energy and humour. “That’s the hardest thing about stepping up to international cricket, the standard of golf!” – one of his first remarks as he took his seat.
Having missed out on the final two ODIs and not being part of the T20 squad that took on South Africa last week, the right-arm quick was chomping at the bit to have another crack at international cricket. “I’m desperate to get out again! I was meant to be playing yesterday (vs Ireland), but obviously then it slammed down”.
24 hours later, his prayers were answered in chastening returns of 52-0 from his set of four overs. Once more, Baker was consigned to the unwelcome statistic of worst figures by an English bowler on debut – this time in T20 cricket, to go alongside his ODI accolade just a few weeks prior.
“Sh*t happens”
As the inevitable questions about his international debut began to roll in, the Hampshire man was candid in his examination of the performance.
“Markram obviously fancied a piece and got a few away, and he’s a very, very good player. Not the best I’ve bowled, but looking back at my areas, there was a ball at 89mph, a little bit above top of leg stump, and he hit me over square leg for six. I was like, ‘Hmm, OK, fair enough.’”
It should be noted that Baker was not given the most friendly of baptisms into the international arena. Bowling up the hill at Headingley, against a South Africa side in pursuit of a modest 131 runs, he was always going to be taken on by the experience of Aiden Markram, who raced to 86 off just 55 deliveries, as South Africa marched towards a seven-wicket win to open the series.
For many, a debut like that can be hard to come back from, but Baker took a blunt assessment of his performance: “Brooky was chatting to me after that (game) and just said, ‘What did you write down in your notebook after that?’ I just said, ‘Sh*t happens.’”
One would assume that he shared a similar sentiment with Jacob Bethell, walking off the field in Malahide this time around. Nonetheless, his view of the game still rings true, no matter the performance.
“Batters are allowed to play good shots. That’s why they’re good, right? That’s why they’re there. If no one could play a ball on the top of off stump, Kyle Abbott would get a wicket every single ball, and it would be a very short game.”
A student of the game
Having made his first-class debut over the winter, touring Australia with the England Lions, Baker is still fresh on the professional circuit, putting down his marker with some dominant performances for the Manchester Originals in this year’s Hundred – celebrating his first international call-up with a hat-trick against local rivals, Northern Superchargers.
Baker’s fanatic love of the game is evident to see. Speaking on his integration into the recent England whiteball squads, he was full of admiration for his teammates: “Obviously it’s an intimidating environment when everyone else is like a celebrity – I’ve seen them all play on TV!”, adding that “Everyone’s been so welcoming. It’s been unbelievable.”
The Somerset-born bowler leaves no stone unturned when it comes to analysis, filling page after page of his famed notebooks with details on how to take on the world’s best.
“The whole point of going into the detail is so that you have conviction in the simplification of it… It’s only a few bullet points on each guy that you need to know a hundred percent. Sometimes it’s knowing, ‘Oh, does he reverse-scoop in this context? Yeah, he actually does’. That might change the field you set, even though you’re still trying to bowl the same ball and back your strength.”
“One of my mates got me one (notebook) for my birthday, which I thought told me enough about myself!”
Winter is coming
With a white-ball series in New Zealand fast approaching, followed by the much-anticipated Ashes and T20 World Cup, Baker seemed relaxed when asked about his involvement: “Who knows? I just go where I’m told, basically. I don’t really know. I sort of see what comes”.
If called upon for the Ashes, the quick is ready with his plan against the Australian batters, having spent time there at the beginning of the year.
“I think it was just obviously bringing length slightly back. I feel like channel balls were a lot harder to play. I don’t know whether that was just from my personal experience, but I felt like the ball going through the channel looked a lot more threatening, whereas in England, it felt like you could get back-foot punched a lot. I didn’t see very many guys (In Australia) going back and crunching people on the back foot through cover in front of square. It’s more, if it’s width, you get cut.”
Whether he makes the plane or not, Baker is one of England’s most exciting prospects, despite his troubled start to international life. With impressive pace and a keenness to learn, we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the years to come.
