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Sandhu steps to the fore

Bowler flourishing under McDermott's tutelage

It’s been a rapid rise for Gurinder Sandhu: the Under-19 World Cup, Sheffield Shield debut, NSW Blues' Steve Waugh Medal and, now, the best bowler on the park for Australia A.

Not bad for someone who has only just recently celebrated their 21st birthday.

Australia's fast bowling guru Craig McDermott took Sandhu under his wing at the 2012 U19 World Cup, and it is fitting that McDermott is on hand with the 'A' team in Townsville for what may prove to be the next evolution of the promising paceman.

Sandhu claimed 10 wickets at an average of 18.60 on his previous visit to Townsville, kick-starting an incredible summer for the young seamer that culminated in his surprise win as Cricket NSW’s player of the year.

The 2013-14 summer was a far more difficult proposition as Sandhu suffered what North American sports like to refer to as 'second-season syndrome'. Tall and strongly built, Sandhu stands out from the crowd. He can be brash and loves a joke, but is also genuinely warm. His rapid rise earned him a reputation as a "strutter", in the words of McDermott.

However, the Australia assistant coach believes an off-season working with the National Performance Squad and a greater level of maturity has Sandhu in better shape – physically and mentally – to tackle the challenges ahead.

“He’s grown up and matured from a bowling perspective and also on a personal side of things,” McDermott told cricket.com.au after day one against South Africa A.

“A lot of the boys back then probably thought he was a bit of a strutter and I think over the past six to nine months he’s really got that out of his system.

“Having some older and more experienced players around him, they can knock that out of you after a while.”

National coach Darren Lehmann has said that he wants his quicks bowling upwards of 140kph, as seen with Peter Siddle’s omission from the Test side during the tour of South Africa earlier this year.

A common criticism of Sandhu’s bowling has been his lack of genuine pace to challenge batsmen at the highest level, but McDermott believes he’s seen signs to suggest that area of his game is improving in the hope of getting closer to that 140kph mark.

“He’s picked up a bit of pace (since under-19s), but I think he’s got room for improvement from that point of view,” McDermott said.

“I think he’s shown out here, particularly in the first game on a pretty flat wicket, that he’s got the ability to do something on wickets that haven’t got a lot to offer.

“We’re working on getting more momentum in his running style for his run-up, which will help him get more power over the front leg.”

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Sandhu believes spending some time at Glenn McGrath’s MRF Pace Foundation in India last year has been a big factor in helping him extract something out of the pitches at Tony Ireland Stadium.

“The wickets were pretty flat and low where we trained,” Sandhu explained.

“That gave me an insight into the wickets here, stick on that one length, have your fields set with a nice simple plan and just build the dots.”

While a number of Australian cricketers have made the most of a few months away from the game, Sandhu has spent the winter at the National Cricket Centre in Brisbane working alongside some of Australia’s best young talent.

“It helped to be able to bring the workloads up slowly,” Sandhu told cricket.com.au.

“I was lucky to be able to go there and do some weights, so I think that’s helping me a lot.”

In Darwin with the NPS during the quadrangular series, Sandhu earned a call up to the ‘A’ squad when NSW teammate Josh Hazlewood succumbed to a side strain.

While he struggled to make an impact during the one-day series, Sandhu shone with the red ball in a disappointing effort from the home side to take four out of the eight wickets during South Africa A’s first innings.

He was back at it again on the opening day of the second clash, although he was determined to delegate praise despite taking 3-60 from 20 overs to have South Africa A 5-220 at the close of play.

“I thought Clint McKay was the best bowler today, he just didn’t get any reward for it,” Sandhu said.

“Also Stephen O’Keefe. They just applied a lot of pressure on the opposition and I thought they bowled really well.”

The ability to move the ball both ways, as well as some reverse-swing capabilities, has impressed many during the early years of Sandhu’s career, but he has also been able to raise some eyebrows off the field.

The 21-year-old has established himself as one of the characters of the game in Australia, and his Instagram 'pool party' video from a day off in Townsville this week evoking a barrage of responses from both fans and teammates alike.

While careful not to put him in the same bracket as someone like Merv Hughes, McDermott clearly enjoys getting the opportunity to coach a personality like Sandhu.

“He’s a good guy and he works hard on his game,” said McDermott.

“He likes to have a bit of a laugh and I’ve certainly enjoyed my time working with him over the past couple of years.

“I like giving him a hard time like I do with most of the bowlers, but he’s responded well and I look forward to watching him develop over the next four or five years as a bowler.”