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Todd Murphy could only laugh and shake his head at his father comparing him to Shane Warne – but Australia’s newest cricket sensation can boast better figures than the legendary spin king on Test debut.
A year ago, Murphy was out of Victoria’s first-class team. On Friday, the 22-year-old dismissed India superstar Virat Kohli en route to a five-wicket haul during the first Test in Nagpur.
It has been a rapid rise for Murphy, who credits an Australia A tour to Sri Lanka in June for helping him prepare to bowl to some of the world’s best batters.
Murphy’s proud family were watching on at VCA Stadium after hurriedly leaving their base on the Victorian-NSW border to be in India in time for his debut Test.
In an interview after Murphy was presented with his baggy green on Thursday, father Jamie said his son had “a lot of Warnie’s traits”.
It was a statement of a proud dad, drawing parallels with arguably the greatest bowler of all time, leaving his son slightly embarrassed.
A middle-order batter, Jamie had played with the late, great Warne in St Kilda’s 1991-92 grade cricket premiership.
That grand final was just weeks after Warne made an inauspicious start to his Test career, going for 1-150 in his first innings for Australia as he was belted around the SCG by India stars Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar.
“I shook my head when I saw that (comparison), I’m not sure I’m anything similar to Warnie,” Murphy said.
“To have them here – it was a pretty hectic couple of days for them to try to get across here, but they’ve been a part of the journey the whole way for me.
“Being from country Victoria there’s been a lot of hours in the car that they’ve all put in for me to get the opportunities I’ve had.
“To share the week with them is something we’re going to all remember forever.
“It’s really special to have them here and they’re all enjoying themselves.”
Murphy’s career started taking off when he was picked to play for Australia A alongside current and former Test players like Marcus Harris, Matt Renshaw and Nic Maddinson.
“Being around some of the guys who had played Test cricket, observing everything and competing in the nets and bowling to the Sri Lankans,” Murphy said.
“I took a lot of confidence out of that and reflected and went back, trusted myself a bit more and thought ‘what I’ve got can be good enough’ and believe in that.”
© AAP
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