Joe Mennie’s place of origin might surprise you, or given the context, it might not.
The paceman who plies his trade for South Australia, Hobart Hurricanes and now Australia, grew up in New South Wales.
By the time he was 21, he was in the NSW state squad, but couldn’t get a game. He had two offers from more southerly states, South Australia and Tasmania, and in 2011, he chose the Redbacks.
His state debut came fast, on the 15th October, 2011, where he played his first game against his old state, a one-day encounter against New South Wales.
He went wicketless, but his first class debut against Western Australia followed two weeks later. Mennie took the wicket of Marcus Harris in his first spell, and he was away.
In first class match number three, Mennie dominates the West Australian batting line-up, claiming 7-96 at the WACA. It would’ve set up his side for a win, if they hadn’t already been bundled out for 93 in the first innings.
Regardless, it was clear that Mennie was a fast adapter.
From just six games, he finished second on South Australia’s wicket-takers list with 23 in 2011-12 and bright things were predicted for the 23-year-old.
The 2012-13 began with a pre-season in South Africa, with the Twenty20 Champions League. Playing with the Perth Scorchers, Mennie played all four matches finished with five wickets and a measly economy rate of 6.08.
The unusual season-opener worked wonders, with Mennie’s following season reaping him 33 wickets to place fourth on the Sheffield Shield wicket-takers.
The next two Shield seasons weren’t great, but weren’t write-offs either. 19 wickets in 2013-14 and 17 wickets in 2014-15 suggest more of a consolidation than decline.
However, the right combination was struck in the 2015-16 season, when in a pace battery with Daniel Worrall, Kane Richardson and the prolific Chadd Sayers, Mennie took a personal best 51 Sheffield Shield wickets.
His tally topped the entire country and became just the 15th man in Shield history to take at least 50 wickets in a season.
Incredibly, his season included no five-wicket hauls in an incredible display of consistency. Instead, he claimed seven three-wicket hauls and four four-wicket hauls.
In July 2016, his massive season was rewarded with two Australia A matches against South Africa A. This South African team included seven Test players including Stephen Cook, Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma.
It didn’t stop Mennie delivering once again however, taking a ‘Michelle’ in both matches: 5-38 in the first and 5-61 in the second.
All signs pointed to an ODI debut in November, albeit in the absence of Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Mennie was crushed on his first occasion, a return of 0-82 was far from ideal. But, his response was truly impressive: 3-49 including two maidens meant that Mennie was Australia’s best bowler in the final ODI.
Like a duck to water. Once again, this guy is a fast adapter.
Joe Matthew Mennie has levelled up at an exciting rate. The final boss awaits.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.
It seems franchise cricket has forgotten about the great battle between bat and ball. In fact, this season in the IPL there is no battle at all.
The mammoth rise of Jake Fraser-McGurk - his enormous potential and the destructive shot-making that he possesses makes him a very tempting option.
Marcus Stoinis produced his first IPL century and it was a beauty. He went 6, 4, 4, 4 to finish off the Lucknow Super…
Xavier Bartlett has been permission to extend his cricketing education with a spell of T20s in England, playing in the Blast competition for Kent…
Three-Test spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has signed with Tasmania in a bid for red-ball game time ahead of Australia's tour of Sri Lanka next summer.…
Last week, you read about the Matt XI, a compilation of the best cricketers ever to represent the name Matt. And to be fair,…
