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The Blues who choose greener pastures

Paceman Joe Mennie the latest to earn an international call-up having moved away from NSW

Joe Mennie's elevation into Australia's Test squad at the age of 27 is undoubtedly a triumph of resilience and determination.

Quick Single: Mennie bolts into Test squad

The right-armer has taken the long road to Perth for the first Commonwealth Bank Test against South Africa this week, a journey that began on the mid-north coast of New South Wales and has landed him in his adopted home city of Adelaide, via a stint in Sydney.



It's an impressive tale of perseverance and resolve, but one that’s far from uncommon in Australian cricket, particularly for those from NSW.

In fact, if the tall right-armer makes his Test debut against the Proteas this week, he'll become the 11th Australian in the past decade to pull on the Baggy Green having moved states earlier in his career. And half of the previous 10 - Jason Krejza, Nathan Lyon, Ed Cowan, John Hastings and Jackson Bird - are just like Mennie and were born and bred in NSW.

The ability of NSW to produce talented cricketers who then scatter around the country is further underlined by Australia's recent one-day international representatives; of the 16 Australians in the past 10 years to make their ODI debut while representing an adopted domestic team, 10 of them hail from Australia's most populous state.

Image Id: 87B94D75C31746C9B549A47810D11879 Image Caption: Redbacks spinner Adam Zampa started in his home state of NSW // Getty


Incredibly, Mennie is the fifth New South Welshman to make his international debut in the past six years while playing for South Australia domestically, joining Lyon, Dan Christian, Adam Zampa and Tom Cooper (an Australia A representative who has also played 41 times for the Netherlands).

Mennie's road to the top, more than six years after he first earned a domestic contract, is typical of the fight many promising cricketers face early in their careers.

Having moved south to Sydney from his home in Coffs Harbour, Mennie earned a rookie deal with the Blues in 2010 after some strong performances in Sydney grade cricket. But despite showing some positive signs with the NSW Second XI, the right-armer was not offered a new deal the following season, a decision that appears justified even with the benefit of hindsight.

Quick Single: Mennie happy returns for Redback Joe

The Blues instead opted for Stuart Clark, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Trent Copeland and Burt Cockley as their five contracted quicks for the 2011-12 season, supporting Cricket Australia contracted players Brett Lee, Doug Bollinger and Pat Cummins, while young fast bowlers Sean Abbott, Timm Van Der Gugten and Nic Bills earned rookie deals.

Mennie 'shocked' and proud of Test call-up

Mennie was forced to look for opportunities elsewhere and, having received offers from both Tasmania and South Australia, he chose to head west.

"It was quite a tough decision because I'd made some good friends (in Sydney) and family was only six hours up the road," he told cricket.com.au earlier this year.

"But if I wanted to pursue my career, I had to move.

"So it was a tough one but a decision I had to make ... and it's worked out pretty well."

It's not just New South Welshman who have achieved their Baggy Green dreams only after they've moved states; Ryan Harris, Michael Beer, Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Peter Nevill have all made their Test debuts in the past decade after moving away from home, while Harris, Wade, Agar, David Hussey, Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Worrall have done so in ODI cricket.

Image Id: 25D88D1A0ED34A32BFBD6663C5A8359E Image Caption: Sydney's Peter Forrest moved to Queensland before playing 12 ODIs // Getty

But the figures are skewed significantly towards those who learned their craft in NSW and, in addition, the Blue Baggers remain Australia's biggest producer of international players (six of Australia's 12-man squad for the first Test play domestically for the Blues, while two more – Mennie and Usman Khawaja – grew up there before moving states).

Far from lamenting the ones that got away, Cricket NSW CEO Andrew Jones concedes that losing talented players to other states is almost inevitable, such is their depth of talent.

Quick Single: How the states fare in Aussie honours

"Cricket NSW's goals in high performance are to produce players for Australia, win everything we can and be the talent factory for Australian cricket," he told cricket.com.au.

Image Id: 7B20BB86A36740A68F7BCD1EDACB06C2 Image Caption: Dan Christian has played for SA and Victoria after starting with NSW // Getty

"With that in mind we do everything we can to ensure players achieve their potential. That sometimes means moving states because we simply have more good players than opportunities.

"Joe Mennie is a great example: he was born and raised in Coffs Harbour, played for Wests in Newcastle then Wests in Sydney alongside Mitch Starc. There were a lot of good quicks in Sydney, so he followed Christian, Cooper, Lyon, Zampa and others to South Australia.

"We are delighted for him, proud of him and wish home every success."

Mennie may have taken to road less travelled to the cusp of Test selection, but he’s far from the first to walk it.

Players to debut for Australia after moving states (since 2006)

TESTS


Originally from NSW (5)

Jason Krejza (Tas), Nathan Lyon (SA), Ed Cowan (Tas), John Hastings (Vic), Jackson Bird (Tas)

Image Id: B5BDB610B1B74E9384AC045F34CD5A9F Image Caption: Ed Cowan started at NSW but got his break when playing for Tasmania // Getty

Others (5)

Ryan Harris (SA to Qld), Michael Beer (Vic to WA), Matthew Wade (Tas to Vic), Ashton Agar (Vic to WA), Peter Nevill (Vic to NSW)

ODIs


Originally from NSW (10)

John Hastings (Vic), Jason Krejza (Tas), Dan Christian (SA), Peter Forrest (Qld), Nathan Lyon (SA), Phillip Hughes (SA), Usman Khawaja (Qld), Adam Zampa (SA), Joe Mennie (SA), Chris Tremain (Vic)

Image Id: 8A5CEEF913AD438B85CA03F3DDD357E8 Image Caption: Now with Victoria, Chris Tremain started his career at the Blues // Getty Images

Others (6)

David Hussey (WA to Vic), Ryan Harris (SA to Qld), Matthew Wade (Tas to Vic), Ashton Agar (Vic to WA), Marcus Stoinis (WA to Vic), Dan Worrall (Vic to SA)