While I was watching Australia battling against the old enemy at the Gabba, a thought came to mind – has the world forgotten Peter Forrest?
I really don’t know why I started thinking of Forrest, but it led me to write this article.
Peter Forest played his first Shield match for NSW against rivals Queensland in early March 2007 at the age of 22.
In the first innings he made a stylish 40, before being stumped by Queensland wicketkeeper Chris Hartley off the bowling of Chris Simpson.
In the second innings he made five before the match ended in a draw. An okay start to your first class career you would say.
On the 20th of November 2007, Forrest smashed 177 runs against Tasmania, a knock which included 21 fours and 2 sixes.
In 2011, he moved from his native New South Wales to the team he had made his debut against when he was 22 and things started to go great.
On the 30th of January 2012, after many impressive performances, Forrest was selected in a 14-man one day international squad for the Tri Series against India and Sri Lanka.
A few weeks later, Forrest’s hard work paid off, making his debut for Australia against India at the Adelaide Oval. He made a sensational 66 runs of 83 deliveries.
Five days leter, he made his second ODI 50 against the Indians, this time at the Gabba. His score, a gutsy 52 off 72 balls, was a great contribution to Australia’s score.
Then, if things couldn’t get any better for Forrest, he scored his first century against Sri Lanka at Bellerive Oval on the 24th of February 2012.
I can’t remember who exactly said it but I recall the words “Peter Forest gets his first ton for Australia, you feel that it won’t be his last.”
Yet the years have gone by and Forrest is back in domestic cricket, playing for the Queensland Bulls, making runs and trying to get back in the Australian team.
Forrest recently turned 28. He still has time to get back into the Aussie squad, but his time is unfortunately starting to run out.
Before you read this article, did you still remember Forrest?
Carter
Guest
Forrest just won Shield player of the year for the Bulls after a stella season so maybe he's back on track. Maybe worth keeping an eye on?
Tony
Guest
Have u seen him in the bbl 2014- out of shape and no inventiveness in his stroke play- if he thinks 20000 people make their way out on a weeknight to watch glides to third man and bunts to mid off he is delusional. Mentally and tactically he is not right for short form cricket.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That tended to happen when the NSP would chop and change the team every 30 seconds. There really needs to be some consistency otherwise players won't go out and play their natural game, instead they will be sweating over whether they'll be in the squad for the next game. That's then how they get dropped.
marees
Guest
I remember, I actually went to the cricinfo page of all Australian players starting with "F" to find out who was the player who played in the tri-series with India & SL, but got dropped soon. I thought he was a bit slow for ODIs but could have been a better middle order batsman in test team. I think it just showed the muddled thinking of management and selectors at that time, who clearly didnt know what they want
RMC
Roar Pro
Lachlan, as a Queenslander it was hard watching Forrest's demise from ODI cricket to not being able to make the Bulls one day squad. When he was selected for Australia it was on the back of outstanding form in first class cricket, not list A. When he came in and played so well, I though heres a bloke who thrives in the international arena, and given his runs came in the longer form of the game he will be great in test cricket. I think the selectors always picked him for the ODI team with the intention of him becoming a test batsmen. Sadly it wasn't to be. After that outstanding run, he couldn't buy a run. He had to be dropped from the ODI team but worse still he was eventually dropped by the Bulls. On the plus side he has scored a 50, 100 and 90 for the Bulls so far this year in first class. Unlikely as it is, it is possible that if he averaged 50 plus for the next two years, he could be picked for Australia in similar manner to Cowan or Bailey.
peeeko
Roar Guru
His shield average after 55 games is 33, horrendous
Disco
Roar Guru
Check out Forrest's Shield average last season. Horrendous.
Casper
Guest
Remember Peter Forrest very well, he was touted as another AB with a similar story of coming from NSW & getting plenty of runs in Qld. After that first dawn, he seemed to just disappear & drop out of the Qld team that won virtually everything last season. The upside is, he was the best Qld batsman in the just completed shield game against NSW with 97 & 29 not out so lets hope he has turned the corner.