Australian paceman Billy Stanlake is one of the most promising pacers in the Aussie domestic circuit. The towering right-arm seamer turns 29 on November 4th (Saturday); hence, it's worth reflecting his career exploits so far, having made his international debut in January 2017 against Pakistan at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Stanlake was born in Queensland in the year 1994 and was initially interested in Australian Rules football. He relocated to Gold Coast in 2001 and started playing cricket for Southport-Labrador. He was offered a rookie contract by the Queensland state team ahead of the 2014-15 season, but debuted only in the 2015-16 season due to injuries.
Following some promising performances, Stanlake got upgraded from a rookie contract to a full-time contract in 2016. The Queenslader gave a promising performance in the 2016-17 Big Bash League (BBL) as part of the Adelaide Strikers. Although he took only 6 wickets, it was enough to catapult him to the ODI squad to face Pakistan in January 2017 as Australia decided to rest some of their key bowlers.
Inconsistent international performances:
Ahead of his first ODI, Stanlake was only two List A matches and was down with illiness within 3 overs of the innings. Nevertheless, he bounced back in the next ODI, making Shoaib Malik his maiden victim. The right-arm seamer made his T20I debut against Sri Lanka at the MCG.
However, he had a forgettable outing as he leaked 42 runs in 3 wicketless overs, with Australia losing the match. While Stanlake has had a promising T20I career with 27 scalps in 19 matches at 20.14, he has struggled in ODIs. He last played for Australia in November 2019.
Stanlake has also played for the SunRisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore across 6 matches in IPL, claiming 7 wickets at 28.57.
