As Australia defeated West Indies by eight wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series, a certain Xavier Bartlett emerged as the showstopper finishing with 4/17 on debut. Bartlett knocked the stuffing out of the West Indies innings and bowled them out for 231. Australia chased down the target without breaking much sweat – by 8 wickets and with 69 balls to spare. But even as the win was secured, Bartlett managed to generate all sorts of noises from this contest in Melbourne with his stunning spell of bowling.
Bartlett swiftly dismantled the top order on the lively MCG wicket after pairing up with fellow debutant pace bowler Lance Morris to open the bowling for Australia. This marked the first instance of two debutants starting for Australia in ODIs since 1997, when Andy Bichel and Anthony Stuart shared the new ball at the Gabba.
Which now brings us to the question. Who is Bartlett? Where did he come from and what did he do to earn his place in Australia’s ODI setup. For starters, Bartlett is a young right-arm pacer from Adelaide, South Australia and received his maiden call-up on the back of a stellar show for Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League. In fact, he was BBL 13’s joint-highest wicket-taker with 16 scalps from eight games at an average of 13.31. Outstandingly, 12 of the 13 wickets that Bartlett took were inside the Powerplay.
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Secondly, Bartlett’s seam position of the ball is as immaculate as one can get. So much so that even the legendary Brett Lee was in awe of this special skill of the 24-year-old. Those who saw Bartlett bowl against the Windies would also be familiar with his bowling action, which resembles the spitting image of Josh Hazlewood. Besides, in another mind-blowing trivia, Bartlett’s debut on Friday comes having not played a List-A match since September of 2022.
But his fiery bowling at the MCG sure didn’t reflect any rust of any kind. He ran through the West Indies top order dismissing openers Alick Athanaze and Justin Greaves before taking out captain Shai Hope and Gudakesh Motie to skittle the Windies for an underwhelming total. Matthew Forde gave his side an early breakthrough in the form of Travis Head’s wicket but half-centuries from Josh Inglis, Cameron Green and Steve Smith got the Aussies over the line comfortably.
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