Room for two: Hardie eager for higher honours

Despite missing Australia's squad for the first two Tests of the summer, Western Australia's newest match-winner Aaron Hardie believes he and fellow allrounder Cameron Green can play in the same team as he pushes for higher honours.

The 23-year-old, who last week guided his state to a thrilling Marsh Sheffield Shield victory with 70 not out on a green WACA pitch, is beginning to turn selectors' heads after a string of standout performances.

An unbeaten 174 in last season's Shield victory over Victoria, selection on Australia A's tour of Sri Lanka in the middle of the year, and now starring in a fourth-innings chase against a potent Queensland bowling attack have all been added to the allrounder's resume in 2022.

Add a spot in the Prime Minister's XI for a four-day match against the West Indies later this month and it's clear that Hardie's name is on the radar.

And should the call one day come from national selectors, Hardie says there is no reason he and his long-time teammate Green can't play alongside each other on the international stage.

"Greeny and I have played in lots of teams together before so I don't see why it should have to change," he told reporters last week.

"We've won tournaments together before in the same team so I hope we can do that together in the future.

"I'd love to play cricket for Australia. It's everyone's boyhood dream and is definitely my boyhood dream to play for Australia. So I'll be throwing all my eggs into that basket for now."

The right-hander has spoken previously about his emphasis on batting and a desire to be picked primarily on that skillset, and he reiterated that last week when he said he wants to be known as a batting allrounder.

After a game-winning partnership with Hilton Cartwright against the Bulls, Hardie has put the onus on himself to stand up for his side no matter the situation.

"I sort of joked with 'Swampy' (Geoff Marsh) yesterday that (the) allrounder's job is to win games for the team," he said.

"I pride myself on being able to do that. I love going out there when the ball's still new and nipping around.

"It is hard batting up the order while bowling 20-25 overs … I'd love to be able to get to the point where I'm selected purely based on my batting, and be able to bowl as well.

"I've always batted up the order in club cricket my whole life, so I do love being out there early.

"Obviously it means that the team's not in the best situation, but I certainly pride myself on being able to bat under those conditions."

But Hardie knows his ability to thrive with the ball as well will be key to his rise.

After recovering from elbow surgery last season, he took the new ball for WA in the back-end of their 2021-22 campaign, while he has managed seven wickets in his three Shield games this year.

"It's a balancing act with the amount of overs I need to bowl," he said. "While I'm fully fit, I'd love to be able to contribute to both. Naturally as a bowler you're going to get a few niggles so I think if I can cement myself as a batsman, then you can contribute to as many games as possible.

"It's just about taking as many opportunities as possible, adapting to lots of different conditions and scoring runs, essentially."

Through WA's clash with South Australia on Friday, and the PM's XI match and the KFC BBL beyond it, Hardie is intent on continuing to push his case.

And after his experience in Sri Lanka and a continual build in confidence, his dream appears to be creeping ever closer.

"Obviously I (was) picked in Australia A stuff earlier this year which was an awesome achievement, so I've sort of met all the coaches and staff up at that level," he said.

"As an athlete, you pride yourself on having the confidence that you can step up.

"I've certainly watched the (Australia) boys around (WA) … and how they train, and tried to replicate that as much as possible, and you take a lot of confidence knowing that the work that you do, it works for those boys at that level as well.

"I've just got to keep doing the basics really well and trusting that that's going to help you to achieve success at that level."