Sam Heazlett impressed on debut and Chris Rogers says he is a player to keep an eye on in the future
Rogers impressed by Bulls youngster
Former Australia opener Chris Rogers has tipped a long and prosperous career ahead for Queensland young gun Sam Heazlett.
Heazlett scored an impressive 129 on debut for the myFootDr Queensland Bulls on Sunday to help his side back into their Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania in Hobart.
The 20-year-old stroked 17 boundaries during his classy innings, with Rogers keeping a close eye on proceedings at Blundstone Arena while fulfilling his ABC Grandstand commentary duties at the first Test in Brisbane.
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Sam Heazlett in action for Queensland grade side Redlands // QLD Cricket
"It's very hard to go into your Shield debut and score a hundred," Rogers told cricket.com.au on Sunday.
"I'm not surprised that he has the game to succeed at that level, but to be able to step up and do it straight away, that's brilliant.
"Any Shield hundred is impressive and by the sounds of it they (Queensland) were under a little bit of pressure.
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"He's shown more senior players just how good he is and that's an incredible effort first up."
Rogers first laid eyes on Heazlett during the Youth Test between Australia and England's under-19 teams in Perth earlier this year and was immediately taken by what he saw from the left-hander.
"I went and helped out the Aussie Under 19s when they were playing the England Under 19s in Perth in April after the Shield final and he got 160 that day with Jake Doran when they both got hundreds," Rogers said.
"Sam's was just a very impressive innings and looked like he had the kind of game that could succeed at first-class level."
Heazlett is a name on the radar of national selectors, given he was selected to play for the Cricket Australia XI last month against New Zealand in both Sydney and Canberra.
He didn't feature in either of those matches due to late personnel changes – a fair indication of his current spot in the pecking order – but Rogers is predicting a bright future for the former Queensland junior captain.
"He's a pretty intense kind of guy who loves his cricket and thinks about it a lot, so I imagine he'll be a hard worker as well," Rogers said.
"There's no lack of drive there and I thought he was definitely one of the kids to really look out for."