(SCOTT McNAUGHTON)
“That is a part of it I really enjoy. You have to be The story goes that the youngster was the only one in a ahead of the game and thinking, two, three, four group of talented juniors to take on Lee. “A few of the overs ahead.” guys had been around first-class cricket a bit so they More than two years later, when I meet Aaron probably knew better.” – now the world’s top-ranked batsman in the At 13, he was already playing against grown men, short form of the game – he was coming off helping his local team, Colac West, to a senior a topsy-turvy 2015. He was a member premiership alongside his brother Jason and a of the Australian one-day team that 17-year-old fast bowler named Luke Hodge “he had won the World Cup in March, (Hawthorn fans can be thankful he didn’t a natural smashing 135 in the opening stick with cricket). knack to get match and 81 in the semi-final “[Aaron] was only a little fella. A little, against India. But following that plump kid,” says Sean Lynch, who coached the runs” highest of highs came a horror trio’s junior team. “[But] when he was batting run of injuries later in the year. He he’d know where to get runs. He had a natural tore his hamstring tendon in April knack to be able to do that.” and then broke his foot in July. That talent took him to Geelong Cricket Club, where “It’s been a difficult few months … he still plays from time to time. He was still in his early but everything is all good now,” he teens when he made his Premier Cricket debut. says, sitting a few rows in from the The opposition’s fast bowlers pummelled him with MCG fence over which he’ll hope quick deliveries, but “he just kept playing forward to hit the white ball in the second and wearing them on the thigh pad, wearing them on Twenty20 match against India on the ribs,” says Clinton Peake, a Geelong Cricket Club January 29. stalwart. “I remember after that game I was saying to the Now 29, Aaron grew up in group, ‘Heaven help this competition when you’re good Colac, about two hours’ drive enough’.” Clinton adds: “I just think he’s tough, Finchy. west of Melbourne. As a boy he Mentally he’s very strong, he’s resilient.” split his time between football Asked where that determination comes from, Aaron and cricket. At 16, he took offers: “Probably from the backyard” – meaning his on Brett Lee, then one of the cricket battles with Jason. “He was much better than world’s fastest bowlers, at me. I didn’t get a chance to bat for too long if I threw it the National Academy in away.” He was a cricket tragic from a young age. Brisbane. “I used to get up in the middle of the night if Test “It was daunting; he was matches were overseas,” he says. “My pop was the first to bowling rockets,” he says, teach me to hit the ball. My first memories of cricket are “but it was great fun, too.” with my family.”
Aaron lives in Aberfeldie with his girlfriend Amy and their puppy, Evie. He’s a Geelong supporter (Gary Ablett snr was his favourite player as a boy), enjoys fishing and, like many cricketers, is a keen golfer. He was also good friends with Phil Hughes, who died on November 27, 2014, days after he was struck by a short-pitched delivery during a Sheffield Shield match. Aaron met Phil at the National Academy, and was a pallbearer at his funeral. Having been injured for much of 2015, he’s had time to grieve the loss of his mate. “The year has gone quick at times and slow at other times,” he says. “But not a day goes by when you don’t think about him.” It’s a reflective side that also emerges when Aaron is asked to consider what he would have done if he weren’t a cricketer. “Honestly, I’d hate to think what I’d be doing. I wasn’t very good at school. I’ve been very lucky to play cricket for the best part of 10 years, and represent my country and my state. To think about what else I would have done is a scary thought.” He will lead Australia into the World Twenty20 competition in March, but there’s a desire and expectation to appear on cricket’s biggest stage, too. After Aaron hit a game-winning 181 playing in a match celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Lord’s ground in 2014, Sachin Tendulkar told reporters: “He’ll be there soon in the long form of the game as well.” While a baggy green has remained elusive, Aaron agrees that the Test arena is the final frontier from him. “I probably haven’t given myself the best chance with my performances over two or three years in four-day cricket,” he admits. “Hopefully I can score some runs and force my way in. It’s something that I desperately want to achieve.” ● lhenriques-gomes@theweeklyreview.com.au 10031922-01-a16SEPT©MMP
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JANUARY 20, 2016 \ THE WEEKLY REVIEW 17