Tom who? The youngster who lit up the Gabba

Nine months ago, Tom Balkin was embarking on the long journey that a shin stress fracture necessitates.

Two months ago, the young fast bowler was beginning to return to full training, bowling off his full run up in the nets after a seven-month absence.

On Saturday night, nine months after his stress fracture, Big Bash debutant Balkin was entrusted with bowling the final over that saw him help the Brisbane Heat sneak home by seven runs against the Adelaide Strikers.

It was a performance that had Australian cricket fans asking one question.

Who is Tom Balkin?

The background

Balkin, a 21-year-old born only two days after Steve Waugh’s final Test match, has long been earmarked as a player of interest by those in the cricket pathway.

A product of the Toombul District Cricket Club in Brisbane, he was a member of Queensland’s underage teams throughout his teenage years and found himself in Australia’s extended squad for the 2022 U19 World Cup. While he didn’t play in that tournament, he represented the U19 team against England’s U19 side the following year.

Last summer, he claimed the Bob Spence Trophy as the most improved player aged under 21 in Queensland Premier competition.

Balkin’s talent was recognised by state selectors who opted to sign him on a rookie contract for the 2025/26 season.

A meteoric rise to the big stage

That aforementioned stress fracture in his right shin put Balkin’s prospects on ice during the 2025 pre-season.

“It was just before Christmas (that) I got the green light to come back and play,” Balkin told reporters on Sunday morning.

“Things happened really quickly. I got thrown into the squad as a replacement player. I probably only started bowling eight weeks ago off my long run.”

Balkin’s not wrong when he says things moved quickly.

A player capable of bowling in excess of 145kmp/h, he was formally added to the Heat’s squad as a local replacement player less than ten days before his debut, and, as such, found himself wearing a particularly high number on his playing shirt against the Strikers.

It turns out his decision to don the No. 95 was a nod to a childhood hero from the movie Cars.

“When you’re a replacement player, you don’t pick your number,” Balkin laughed during his chat with the Fox Sports commentary team after Saturday’s match.

“It had to be a number (in) the 90s. (No. 95) was actually my second preference for Queensland this year. It’s just a bit of a laugh with Lightning McQueen. I would prefer No. 8, but I just picked No. 95.”

A night to remember

Chosen to debut against the Strikers, Balkin became the 96^th player to represent the Heat. It was a particularly special moment, given he had spent his childhood in the Gabba grandstands watching the likes of Chris Lynn, who just happened to be representing the Strikers on Saturday night.

“It’s been a crazy few days, obviously coming off the back of Christmas and debuting here in front of a big crowd,” a smiling Balkin told Fox Sports post-match.

“(My heart rate was) very high, it was pretty high the whole night, to be honest. I’ve been coming here since I was really young and to play against guys like Chris Lynn who I’ve been looking up to since I’ve been coming here, it’s a dream come true to be out here in front of a packed house.”

With a target of 180 to defend, and without a single match of cricket to his name in the past nine months, Balkin was thrown the ball by his captain Xavier Bartlett in the fifth over of the Strikers’ chase.

That first over saw him bowl to his childhood hero Lynn, who crunched back-to-back fours off the fourth and fifth balls of the over. Balkin ended it with figures of 0-12, but was not to be deterred.

He returned to the fray in the ninth over, and again leaked 12 runs, including a fence-clearing six from Harry Manenti.

But the trials of recent months served Balkin well. Recalled for the 15^th over, bowling to a rampant Jerrssis Wadia, himself a fellow BBL newcomer, Balkin conceded only three runs thanks to some clever bowling that cramped Wadia and twice struck him on the body.

Held back again as senior pair Bartlett and Jack Wildermuth tried to snuff out the Strikers’ charge, it all came down to that final over.

At 8-170, Adelaide needed 10 from the final six balls of the night. With Shaheen Shah Afridi unavailable due to a bruised knee, the responsibility fell on Balkin’s shoulders.

Nerves? Yes, Balkin had a few.

“I was very nervous. I would have been nervous regardless if it was a club game or any game of cricket, but just to be back on the field feels great,” he explained to Fox Sports.

“It feels like longer than nine months.

“To come out here and to have won my first game in front of a crowd, yeah, I’m still pretty shocked.”

Balkin held his nerve, conceding only two runs, one of which was via a wide, and collected the first two wickets of his Big Bash career.

His changes of pace kept Harry Nielsen guessing, right down to the penultimate ball when, needing eight runs from two deliveries, the Adelaide ‘keeper skied one down Wildermuth’s throat at fine leg.

“I was trying to bowl to the long side,” he explained to Fox Sports.

“We saw in the last game a lot of runs are scored to that short side, and playing on the same wicket, I just thought to utilise the long side as much as we could, bowling off pace on the wicket and then on pace and making them hit to the long side.”

The final-ball wicket put the icing on Brisbane’s cake, and it was Balkin who found himself in the middle of all the celebrations.

“It was a hell of a feeling,” he gushed.

“To get the first (wicket) was a hell of a feeling and then to get that to win the game was even better.

“It was probably with three overs to go I realised (I was going to bowl the final over) … I wasn’t thinking about it, and then I realised Xavier was bowled out and I went, oh, gee, this could be me.

“Xavier was just trying to say stay relaxed… He was great and really helped settle me there.”

What’s next?

Figures of 2-30 from his 3.2 overs go quite neatly with his eleventh-hour heroics, and hint at a cricketer Australia is likely to hear a lot more about in the years to come.

With six pre-finals matches remaining in the Heat’s season, and fast bowling trio Michael Neser (Ashes squad), Spencer Johnson (injury) and Callum Vidler (injury) all otherwise occupied, Balkin is set for further opportunities to show his wares on the big stage.

And from there?

Balkin knows better than most how quickly a player’s fortunes can change. From the physio table to the final over of a Gabba thriller, who knows where the next twist in his tale will take him?