Sonny Baker: first look in ODIs

3 minute read

We don’t believe you can draw meaningful conclusions from players’ debuts – but we report on them anyway.

We’ve never done one of these for limited overs cricket before, but Sonny Baker’s debut warrants comment as one of the most bathetic (yes, bathetic – not pathetic) entrances you’ll see.

Baker had bowled 47 balls in this year’s Hundred when the BBC first floated the possibility he could be involved in the Ashes.

“While a call-up for the Ashes this winter appears fanciful, he will likely be part of the Lions group which will shadow the full side in Australia before Christmas. Should injuries hit, a call-up is not impossible.”

Baker’s Manchester Originals captain, Phil Salt, didn’t make much effort to talk down his performance either. “He was outstanding,” he told Sky Sports after a game against Welsh Dragons. “Jimmy had a rest today but that is the closest to what he did, if not better.”

Baker had taken 1-21 off 20 balls, but the attention arose from David Warner failing to lay bat on a couple early on – although it’s worth pointing out the old-timer did go on to make 71.

Baker’s rise into the England ranks seems to have been set in stone by then though, because after that we couldn’t stop seeing his name. By the time he took a hat trick against Northern Superchargers a couple of weeks later (Dawid Malan bowled swiping, Tom Lawes caught at cow corner and Jacob Duffy late on a fast full toss), the media groundwork was long since laid for his inclusion in England’s white ball squads.

Baker took nine wickets from his 114 balls in this year’s Hundred and while he currently only has 22 wickets from seven first-class matches, such is England’s appetite for hot-housing, no-one has batted an eyelid at his rapid elevation.

Fair enough, except the modern world doesn’t leave much space to stand between the batting of eyelids and unrealistic expectations and we have felt, at times, like coverage has been forcefully shunting us towards the latter.

On, then, to the great expectation sinker that is international cricket, where Baker was bowled first ball before taking 0-76 in seven overs as South Africa chased down a target of 132 with 30 overs to spare – despite only really bothering to score from one end.

Baker’s opening partner, Jofra Archer, took 0-8 off five overs. We don’t suppose there’s an ODI bowling equivalent of the Bannerman, but single-handedly conceding 55 per cent of the runs scored by the opposition was quite the feat given that four bowlers were used.

Our favourite shot was an Aiden Markram back foot drive which he appeared keen to hit almost exactly straight up and which cleared the boundary at third man.

So, in short: a debut to remember – but at the same time, it’s only one game. For Baker, that’s not only his debut out of the way, but also the worst match of his international career. There’s always another game (provided he doesn’t continue being almost 10 times as expensive as his opening partner).

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