Not even playing BBL till last week, Ian Cockbain takes Adelaide Strikers to the knockouts
The Adelaide Strikers haven’t had an easy outing in this Big Bash League season as they have missed some of their key players either to national duty or to COVID-19 at some stage of the tournament. Travis Head spent the whole season with the national team during the Ashes, Matt Renshaw was unavailable initially and now Rashid Khan has gone back to represent his country as well.
As a result, the Strikers had to sign up some replacements carefully, depending on availability and ease of transport due to COVID-19 inflicted restrictions, and England’s Ian Cockbain is one of them.
WATCH: Superman Glenn Maxwell with a stunning backward-dive catch in BBL 2021-22
Cockbain was playing for Langwarrin CC in Victoria while wintering in Australia with his wife, who is from Adelaide. As he was available, the Strikers signed him up on Thursday (January 13), and have made him play every game since then. And Cockbain has turned out to be an exceptional asset for them with scores of 35*(24), 17(17) and 71*(42) in the last three games, which also helped them in going into the finals series.
Here is a glimpse of Ian Cockbain’s batting for Adelaide Strikers in the BBL so far:
Straight Drive
Square Cut
On Drive
Reverse Sweep
Off Drive@ian_cockbain showcased his batting versatility in a balanced innings to get him off the mark in #BBL11
#GoGlos
pic.twitter.com/onXeDIs1sz
— Gloucestershire Cricket
(@Gloscricket) January 14, 2022
Ian Cockbain getting this done quickly for the Strikers now! They are finals bound in #BBL11! pic.twitter.com/DAOQtZu8Pj
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 17, 2022
The 34-year-old hasn’t played any international game for England but he has plenty of experience at the domestic level, with 57 first-class, 68 List-A and 138 T20 games to his name. He is a regular for Gloucestershire as well and boasts of an excellent T20 average of 34.15 with 3518 runs, including a century and 19 fifties.
WATCH: Mohammad Hasnain and Moises Henriques get into heated clash in BBL
Cockbain has batted at No.3 in all three games for the Strikers so far and his 35*(24) and 71*(42) against Perth Scorchers and Sydney Sixers were match-winning ones. He played a key part in taking down the spinners in the middle overs and the Strikers will be hopeful of an equally good performance from him in the knockouts.