Off spinner Jason Krejza’s mauling early on tour by brash young Indian Board President’s XI batsmen has not dampened his ambition to become Australia’s go-to slow bowler of the future.
Krejza, 25, spent several days in Hyderabad assessing the prospect of a Test debut, following Bryce McGain’s premature exit from the subcontinent with a shoulder problem.
A baggy green cap was essentially his to lose, and he did so by returning the horrid figures of 0-199 from 31 overs spread across two innings.
Not helping matters was the mid-match revelation that he had tested positive for cocaine following a drink-spiking incident in 2006.
It was an episode that contributed to his typecasting as a colourful but occasionally wayward character.
“That was a tough game, I knew what was going to happen that game, but I didn’t bowl as badly as the figures said, I don’t think,” Krejza said of Hyderabad.
“A dropped catch and a couple that just passed players, so I was happy with it, it was a learning experience, you want to get that one out of the way early.”
What impressed captain Ricky Ponting most about Krejza was that the aggression of the local batsmen did not undermine his confidence sufficiently to stop him demanding the ball.
Ponting recalled Krejza “yelling and screaming” in annoyance when the President’s XI declared their seond innings, meaning he could not bowl again.
“It’s nice to have the words of Punter backing you up,” Krejza said.
“As a bowler or particularly for a spinner, you can from time to time get a bit of stick and you need to get back on the horse and keep going, that’s my attitude towards it.”
To keep going as a spinner in Australia has been a difficult task of late, and while Cameron White has been used as a containing stopgap in the India Tests, the slow bowling berth will be very much open the moment Krejza gets back home.
Five Tests against New Zealand and South Africa await Ponting’s team, with Krejza, White, Beau Casson and Daniel Cullen are all likely to compete for a spot while 36-year-old McGain – the selectors’ first choice – recuperates from shoulder surgery.
“I know I’ve got the skills and I’ve got confidence in my bowling that I can make it at this level,” Krejza said.
“I want to get the opportunity to try to hold onto it with both hands and then hopefully try to hold onto it for as long as I can, that’s what I want to do, that’s my goal and it’s always been my goal, to be the spinner for Australian cricket.”
Krejza is not without hope of playing before this series ends, particularly when the wicket for next week’s third Test in Delhi has been billed a “parting gift” for Indian captain and legspinner Anil Kumble.
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