Persistence pays off as Ellis hits new heights

Nathan Ellis has gotten used to being overlooked.

"I like to say I'm six foot, but I reckon I'm 5'11," he says with a laugh. "With my stature, I'm not your typical fast bowler."

Yet, the bustling Ellis is presently the leading domestic 50-over bowler in the country after five rounds of the Marsh One-Day Cup, in which he leads all-comers in the wickets column with 11 at 18.90.

At North Sydney Oval in his fifth game of professional cricket last week, he led a Tasmanian side missing their best batter (Matthew Wade), their best bowler (Jackson Bird) and the Test captain (Tim Paine) to a stunning upset win over his native state which had passed him over on countless occasions and which boasted an XI featuring Steve Smith, David Warner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.

"You'll never get a more daunting batting line-up in domestic cricket to bowl to on a bigger bowlers' graveyard in world cricket," Blues paceman and one of Ellis' mentors Trent Copeland told cricket.com.au.

Ellis, the equal-least experienced of the 22 players on the park, took five wickets. The towering pace trio of Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and star spinner Lyon took four between them.

"To come away with five-fa, it's not something you're thinking about while you're out there but now looking back and you get the ball from the game – it's something you're not going to forget and you're going to cherish forever," Ellis says.

"To do it with family members, with some friends there, it was really, really special."

The white Kookaburra ball Ellis pocketed for his 5-38 was reward for the kind of long, hard slog few of those he's now mixing it with have ever known.

Image Id: E95657DEB35448B0803232AC5008A7EB Image Caption: Tasmanian teammates congratulate Ellis on a wicket against NSW // Getty

Up until a few months ago, Ellis had just about resigned himself to the fact that being discounted – because of his height, because he wasn't quite quick enough – was his destiny as far as his dream of being a professional cricketer went.

As a junior, he missed selection for all of the NSW underage sides he tried out for. "At the time, I was distraught," he admits. "When you're 15 or 16, you think that's all there is."

But after growing a little to push up closer to the six feet he jokes that he just about reaches "in heels", Ellis took 160 wickets at 22 in four seasons of first grade for Sydney Premier Cricket sides Randwick-Petersham and St George.

Image Id: 1EB53540E4D14C7C8BCC03309003CBF3 Image Caption: Ellis takes flight in his follow through for St George in 2016 // Ian Bird

"The one thing you'll hear when you speak to anyone about him is that he's one of the best team men going around," said Copeland, who captained and opened the bowling with Ellis at St George. "He plays cricket the same no matter whether he's having a good day or a bad day.

"He had an incredible wrist position which swung the ball late away from the right-hander, but he also had the ability to swing it the other way as well.

"When he came across (from Randwick-Petersham) he did it because he wanted to play with guys like Moises (Henriques) and myself and he wanted to ask questions and learn. To me that was the reason why I knew he was going to be good."

While his club cricket victims might have agreed with Copeland, NSW is a hard team to crack.

Image Id: 6E58EE28DBDD444A937477C5AF5F0296 Image Caption: Ellis celebrates a wicket for St George // Ian Bird

With no shortage of fast-bowling talent in the state, Ellis realised his efforts were not going to be enough for him to get a look-in and, after careful consideration and consulting with the likes of Copeland, he relocated to Hobart.

He didn't have a job, let alone a professional contract.

Rather than pursue a career using his commerce degree, Ellis committed himself completely to cricket after making the move south. It paid off incrementally. He was occasionally invited to bowl to the Tasmanian squad and his efforts for his club side Lindisfarne won him the odd state Second XI game.

It was hardly enough to pay the bills however.

"The first two years were pretty tough to get enough money to pay rent and put a tank of fuel in the car," he tells cricket.com.au.

"I was like, 'I've come down here to have a crack (at cricket), I'm not going to prioritise work.

"It helped me grow up really fast – it's been a blessing in disguise, in a way, helping to mature and grow up."

Ellis eventually found a job as a labourer, working on the roof of the Myer building in Hobart. Following that, he had a brief stint as a furniture removalist. Both jobs were physically taxing and left him sore on weekends.

"I was doing anything I could really to pay rent and get by," he says.

On the cricket field, that didn't stop from picking up where'd left off in Sydney.

Ellis proceeded to collect 84 more victims at 17.88 and last summer he led Lindisfarne to the Premier title. He found a less gruelling job at St Virgil's College as a teacher's aide, helping boys with learning difficulties.

But with his club cricket performances still appearing insufficient for a look-in at the next level, he was on the verge of packing up and heading home.

Then Tasmania coach Adam Griffith came calling.

"I hadn't saved a cent in the last couple of years and was at the point of, 'do I keep going or not?'" said Ellis. "At the time, I was pretty content, I'd had two good years, (my thinking was) I've put a good foot forward but if it doesn't come, it doesn't come.

"At the final hour, I got a phone call from 'Griff' (Griffith) to come in and have a chat. I went in and he said he was happy with how my season went and we spoke about wickets and runs being the currency for selection.

"There were no promises or anything, but it was 'if you train well and play well, you'll get the chance'. That was enough for me."

Still without a contract, Ellis put in a full pre-season with the Tigers. Last month, he finally made the cut. Tasmania picked him in their season opener to play Victoria at the WACA Ground in Perth.

Copeland was one of the first to call to congratulate him. On the end of the line was a jubilant, but nervous debutant.

Image Id: BA47B11F706145AD9021F0732E1BB1C4 Image Caption: Lindisfarne teammate Ben McDermott presents Ellis with his Tasmania cap

"I was like, 'you know what mate? You're just bowling a cricket ball to blokes holding cricket bats.' And he's like, 'yeah but it's like … it's state cricket mate!'" Copeland recalled.

"I ran through a story of my first over in (Sheffield) Shield cricket where I was like him and got plucked out of grade cricket.

"No-one really knew who I was. My first ball bounced twice before it got to Daniel Smith. Simon Katich was at first slip, David Warner, Steve Smith, Phil Hughes – any number of superstars for NSW must have been thinking to themselves, 'Who the hell is this guy?'"

Ben McDermott, Ellis' teammate at Lindisfarne, presented him with his Tasmanian cap a day after his 25th birthday. His first wicket was Glenn Maxwell. He took two more, finishing with 3-35 in a game overshadowed by the Tigers' epic collapse of 6-12 in which he was the match-sealing wicket.

Even after his breakout performance against the Blues, Griffith, Australia's fast bowling coach at the ODI World Cup this year, admitted: "We always knew he was potentially good enough – whether he was that good, we weren't quite sure.

"To take five wickets against those guys – and it wasn't them trying to take him on and hitting it up in the air – he was genuinely knocking blokes over, it's a great credit to Nathan and all the work he's done," he added.

"He's shown now that he deserves to be at that level. He's a match-winner out of that."

Ellis still hasn't quite come to grips with the fact his life-long dream is being rapidly realised. After his star turn against his former state last week, he didn't know he was the competition's leading wicket-taker until his housemate told him.

Copeland insists his former clubmate does his best work with the red ball and Ellis is determined to show his stature need not be a barrier in the longest format either, setting his sights on making his Sheffield Shield debut while he also has one eye on a Big Bash roster spot.

"It (being short) is one of those things I've always been told," Ellis said. "That's not just from the last few years, that's from when I was young as well.

"At times it can be frustrating because you obviously can't change your height – it's not a technical issue or something you can work on. It's something I've come to terms with over the last couple of years.

"You look at someone like Ryan Harris who wasn't huge and Ben Hilfenhaus who I used to really like – they're not small men, but they're also not Josh Hazlewoods or Mitchell Starcs.

"It's one of those things that you know is a limitation and you know selectors look at, but if you're taking wickets, that's the currency they're looking for."