Tom Beaton is hoping a summer in England with Skelmanthorpe can help him re-establish himself in first-class cricket with Western Australia when he returns home to Perth.
The 23-year-old from Mount Lawley – where he played juniors and district – is still contracted at the WACA having played Sheffield Shield cricket and featured for the Perth Scorchers in both the Big Bash and the Champions League (which was played in South Africa).
His predigree is with the Australian Academy set-up, where he came under the influence of former Test great Greg Chappell, became a Junior World Cup winner and captained the Australia Under 19 side.
And he’s played domestic cricket alongside and against some big names and is eager to prove he has a long-term future at that level, with the ultimate ambition of pushing towards representing Australia at senior level.
“It’s been awesome at Skelmanthorpe so far and the lads have made me and the family very welcome,” said Beaton, who was put in touch with the Lidgett Lane club by Mount Lawley clubmate Paul Davis.
“There is a great camaraderie here and it’s only going to get better, so I’m very happy.
“The reason I have come over here is to get more cricket under my belt so that, hopefully, I can go back to Australia, put in the yards and be available to play first-class cricket straight away.
“My time here could be invaluable at this stage of my career because at 23, I’m playing on turf when everyone back home is just training, and I’m looking to expand my game and understand it even more than I do at the moment.
“I’ve been bowling off-spin for about the last 18 months, too, so I’m looking to improve that side of my game as well and, if I can get in that first-class side back home for the first game of the year, then that would be brilliant.”
Beaton says he’s tried to learn as much as possible from the likes of Justin Langer and Brad Hogg, with whom he roomed for the Scorchers, while Chappell has been one of the biggest influences on him, having toured India under his wing with the Under 19s.
“I had three years on contract with the Scorchers, playing in the Big Bash, and I was fortunate to go to the Champions League with them, which was great experience,” he said.
“We had quite a good side, but I managed to play in one of the games in South Africa (against Auckland at Centurian) and it was all part of learning about cricket in a different part of the world, just like it is coming here to England.”
Beaton is delighted Australia are back at No1 in the Test rankings and says it spurs on all young players, including himself, to want to be involved.
“It’s something we all aspire to,” said Beaton.
“Captaining Australia Under 19s was fantastic – to captain your country is probably the biggest achievement and honour you can have and I certainly grabbed it. You have to make the most of it because you never know if it will come back, so I certainly cherished it.”
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