Mark Steketee is the latest Australian pace bowler to credit his impressive recent form to the work of Under-19 assistant coach Craig McDermott. McDermott – who resigned from the position of Australia’s bowling coach with the senior team in May due to family reasons – has since taken up a role at Cricket Australia’s centre of excellence (COE) in Brisbane in addition to assisting coach Stuart Law with the national Under-19 team.
And after another terrific bowling performance, in which they bowled South Africa out for 191, Australia qualified for the final of the ICC Under-19 World Cup on Tuesday.
Quicks Gurinder Sandhu and Harry Conway have already praised McDermott through the tournament and Steketee – who was been working with the man who played 71 Tests for Australia since he was 14 – joined in after snaring 3-35 from his 10 overs against the Proteas.
“He (McDermott) has been a major help to my game,” Steketee said after the match.
“I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for him and his input. He just knows so much about the game. I think he helps my bowling a lot, consistency wise and picking up little things that I am doing wrong along the way.”
McDermott, who works tirelessly with Australia’s young bowlers at the COE and in training, also has a notable presence on match day.
He walks around the boundary as Australia field, sharing tips and advice with the resting bowlers.
Conway, who claimed a hat-trick in his only match of the tournament against Nepal, finished his second over with two wickets, giving him a few minutes to stew over his hat-trick ball.
It was no surprise to see him deep in conversation with McDermott during that over, as they planned the perfect hat-trick ball, which hit the top of off-stump moments later.
For these young bowlers, the opportunity to tap into the mind of a man so experienced has proved invaluable.
The helpful pitches, particularly at Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, have also helped Steketee.
“It was real good (for the bowlers today),” he said.
“There was a bit in it for us early on. Obviously the new ball helps, it does a bit and swings a bit especially under heavy cloud conditions. So you just grab your opportunity as they come.
“(Having said that) you can’t just run up and expect it to happen, you have to actually make it happen, bowl in the right areas and still do good things with the ball.”
While the likes of off-spinner Ashton Turner and Sandhu have taken the bulk of Australia’s wickets, Steketee has been happy to fill the role of Mr Consistent.
The Queenslander has taken at least one wicket in all of his four matches at the tournament, with seven wickets at an average of 20.71, and an economy rate of 3.71, a terrific return to date.
He happily bowls into the wind and is often thrown the ball by captain Will Bosisto at challenging periods, with his second spell usually coming at a time when Australia need a partnership broken.
Steketee did exactly that on Tuesday, removing South African captain Chad Bowes (46) at a crucial time, with the Proteas at 3-125 and in the first over of the batting powerplay at the time.
“It was a very important time in the powerplay, just at the start. We pegged them back from possibly getting 230-240 at the time which we thought that they would get,” Steketee said.
“They have been coming out good this tournament. You keep on learning new things so you can’t complain about that. It keeps on improving every time.”
His last comment is an ominous warning to either India or New Zealand, who will be Australia’s opponents in Sunday’s final.
They may put hours of work into negating the likes of Sandhu and left-armer Joel Paris, but if they don’t worry about Steketee, they could be in for a rude shock. (CA)