On honeymoon, playing in a final - Webster's rise to Test all-rounder

BBC News

3 hours ago

Beau Webster is on honeymoon. Sort of.Married to Maddie in April, the newlyweds only had time for a few days away in Tasmania before Australia all-rounder Webster began his stint at Warwickshire. Maddie joined him in Birmingham.From there it is this week's World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's, then three Tests in the West Indies. Webster could be back playing in the UK before the season is out. Only then, and before an Ashes summer back home, might the couple fit in a proper break.The schedule is an indication of how Webster's life has changed, and how his career accelerated up to and beyond a Test debut in January at the age of 31.From club cricket in Cheshire and Birmingham, to T20 leagues in Canada and the Cayman Islands, there was a time when Webster thought he would simply "eke out a steady career".As a youngster, Webster was a good enough Australian Rules Football player to have considered entering the draft. He was offered terms to become a professional cricketer with Tasmania at 18, then had to wait almost 11 years after his first-class debut to progress to the highest level."There was a period when I thought I was stagnating," he tells BBC Sport."I was resigned to my goal of getting a baggy green not being there. If it didn't happen, I was OK with that. I was happy with the fact I might just be a good first-class cricketer and would hopefully win some silverware with Tasmania."
Webster had thoughts of what life after cricket might look like. His father was once a builder, so Webster dabbled with an apprenticeship "on the tools". He started and failed to finish university courses in journalism and business, then had more success with mortgage broking. He may do a diploma in the next year or so.His immediate task is to hold down a place in the Australia team at number six, a role that revealed itself when Webster learnt to use his 6ft 6in frame to become a more than handy seamer.Previously a batter who had been everywhere from one to eight in the Tasmania order, Webster would send down some part-time off-breaks if needed. From a young age he messed around in the nets attempting to bowl pace, but found the resulting back soreness had a negative impact on his batting.It was only during the Covid pandemic, when 'Tassie' needed a seam-bowling all-rounder, that Webster took it seriously and was helped by renowned pace-bowling coach Adam Griffith."It was just lack of technique, feet and arms everywhere," says Webster. "Unless you get the right run-up, technique and your back and legs are used to it, you can have some soreness."I never had a run-up. Until you have a run-up, you do it in the nets and stutter in until you feel like you can hit the crease. You probably bowl at about 50% without a run-up. Once I sorted a run-up with Griffo and was able to focus on the other end, rather than the end where I was landing, it grew from there."When Webster was ready to unleash his new skill in the middle, there was the issue of being taken seriously."When you bowl off-spin for long enough, then you start coming off the long run, everyone starts looking at it as a bit of a gimmick," he says."I spoke to Usman Khawaja about it. We played Queensland, I got the ball and came off the long run and Uzzy thought, 'What's going on here?'"I bowled a couple and he thought, 'Gee, that's actually not too bad.' I think I got him out caught at gully and it wasn't until 12 to 18 months of bowling seam that I lost the stigma of it being a gimmick."
Webster was developing into anything but a gimmick. Like a host of all-rounders, success in one discipline fed the other.In the 2023-24 season, his 938 runs were by far the most in the Sheffield Shield, supplemented by 30 wickets. Only one other player in Shield history had managed 900 runs and 30 wickets in a single season: the greatest all-rounder of them all, Sir Garfield Sobers.Webster was getting noticed, but from a recognition point of view, his timing was horrific. Australia have not historically been blessed with seam-bowling all-rounders, but were in a bountiful period with Cameron Green and Mitchell Marsh.It took a back injury to Green and a dip in form by Marsh for Webster to get his chance in the fifth Test against India at the beginning of this year. His parents, Rod and Tina, were so caught off guard by his selection that they had to make a short-notice trip to Sydney and their plea for a house-sitter in Tasmania hit the headlines., externalWith the series still alive, he top-scored with 57 out of 181 in the Australia first innings and followed up with an unbeaten 39, including the winning runs, in the second. He also took a wicket and two smart slip catches. In the two Tests that followed in Sri Lanka, Webster dusted down his off-spin to show his versatility.Green is fit again, albeit only as a specialist batter. Webster is hoping there's space in the Australian XI for both of them at Lord's, then in the Caribbean and the Ashes."It breeds the best in me when I'm up against guys and competing," he says. "I'd welcome the challenge. I can only keep scoring runs and taking wickets to keep my place in that XI, but no doubt it will only become harder and harder."The marriage to Maddie came after the Sri Lanka tour."Coincidentally with the seam-bowling stuff, Maddie came into my life at the same time as my career took off, so she'll probably claim some credit," says Webster."Everything that goes with being a professional cricketer - there are more bad days than good - she's my biggest fan."I'm sure we'll do something for a honeymoon. We'll find a window at some point in the next few months."Webster has already ticked off an Australia debut and a wedding. Now there is a World Test Championship final to win and an Ashes urn to retain."That would be the perfect 12 months."