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Opinion
As Twenty20 becomes more crash and bash and scores get greater, the importance of someone in the middle order who can settle an innings is of the highest priority.
Season after season, Jono Wells has done this for both the Hobart Hurricanes and the Adelaide Strikers.
After winning the tournament in 2015 after transferring to the Strikers, he has become the backbone of the Adelaide team.
These types of players have become pivotal in the shortest format with players such as Eoin Morgan and Steve Smith being prime examples.
These players have the ability to knock the ball around and steady after the loss of early wickets and then accelerate towards the back end.
Wells has a career average of 34.12 and a strike rate 123.19, which puts him in the all-time top 20 BBL averages.
(Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
While Wells has only eight half-centuries, it is impressive for someone who has batted at five for most of his career.
Wells should be seriously considered for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia – if not in the main team, at least for the squad.
While he would not be first picked as he would play a similar role to Smith, he would be important if an injury occurred as well as being a highly effective outfielder as a substitute.
Look at the West Indies team that won the 2016 World Cup. They had two players in the middle order who had the ability to steady an innings.
Lendl Simmons and Marlon Samuels provided the West Indies openers the ability to attack from the get-go with the confidence that players following would settle the innings.
Australia would be foolish to not utilise this model with most likely Smith and Alex Carey, with Wells in the squad as back-up if an injury occurs.
Australia has historically struggled in the shortest format and should consider picking players who are proven to perform no matter the situation.
The Strikers have consistently been there or thereabouts in the Big Bash since Wells has played for them and regularly challenge every team.
Wells provides the perfect foil to aggressive players such as Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Finch and David Warner, with his hard running and crafty shots.
Jono Wells has continued to fly under the radar in Australian cricket and should be considered in Australia’s shortest format.
Sunday’s double-header games in Launceston and Brisbane only confirmed what we long suspected and already knew: Hobart won’t make the semis and the Melbourne Renegades’ title defence should’ve gone a whole lot better than it has.
‘That’s just your genuine long hop!’
The perils of being on air…
Caught-and-bowleds don’t come much better!
In what’s become something of a tradition, BBL action on New Year’s Eve takes place once more as the Adelaide Strikers host the Sydney Thunder at the Adelaide Oval. Here is The Roar’s guide to live streaming the match, or watching it on TV.
