MELBOURNE: Imagine being Beau Webster. You had just helped Tasmania beat New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the Sheffield Shield game around late November. A 61 and 49 with the bat while taking five wickets across two innings. You get called up as cover for Mitchell Marsh ahead of the pink ball Test against India.
Of course, Marsh retains his place in a day-night Test considering the minimal bowling workload it entails - for context, the veteran bowled just four overs. You are relieved and asked to join the Big Bash League side - Melbourne Stars. You travel from Perth to Melbourne to Adelaide and play three games in five days before you are again asked to join the national squad ahead of the Boxing Day Test. Once again, as a cover for the first XI. This has been the itinerary of a 31-year-old for the last few weeks.
Webster, however, is not one bit bothered. For starters, he knows where he stands in the pecking order and what is expected of him. The counter-attacking all-rounder who switched to bowling offies, Webster took up pace bowling only during the 2020-21 preseason. The lanky Tasmanian had since been at the centre of his team's success. In 2023-24, Webster was the leading run-scorer with 938 runs and also took 30 wickets, helping Tasmania reach the final where they lost to Western Australia.
"I think in the last 2 to 3 years, I have batted No. 6 for Tasmania in (Sheffield) Shield cricket and come in and do a counter-punching sort of role....to be able to counter-punch our way out of that (trouble) and get us to a total that our quicks can bowl at. I think it's definitely one of my strengths with the bat," Webster told reporters at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Monday. "With the ball, I just aim at consistency...trying to hit the top of off-stump and try to run the ball back into the right-handers.If there's a bit of swing on offer, I think I can take that as well...It's just those simple things done over and over again, I think, is my strength," he added.
Webster's addition comes at a time when former players like Simon Katich and Ian Healy have asked for the Tasmanian to be included in the playing XI in place of Marsh who's barely bowled since the first Test. Webster, however, is not thinking about it. He knows he's there as a backup and is excited about being around the likes of Marsh, Pat Cummins, Mitchel Starc and others. "Really excited to be here for Boxing Day Test and prep as if I will play. Once the coin goes up, we will see what happens there - whether I travel back and join the Stars or stay here and help the guys out. It's definitely exciting," he said.
"It's part of my game. I am really proud of developing it in the last four years. A lot of hard work has gone into it... being sore at the start to trying my body to getting used to bowling a few overs here and there to bowling a lot for Tasmania... It feels like it's as important as my batting game," Webster said, before adding that working with Adam Griffith helped him a lot.
Meanwhile, the all-rounder admitted that he let his mind wander a bit, thinking about walking out in front of a packed MCG on boxing day but has kept his expectations realistic. "Just trying to do what I can to give myself the best chance if I get a tap on the shoulder and the honour of playing," he said.
While he felt that switching to fast bowling was one the best decisions made, Webster didn't necessarily rule out bowling a bit of off-spin if needed ahead of the Sri Lankan tour after the India series. "Once you are in this environment, you get a real hunger to stay around. It's a great group, once I've been rubbing shoulders with these guys, I don't want to leave. Sri Lanka is definitely on the cards, I would love to see myself there.
"I am not sure what the selectors are thinking in terms of how wickets are going to spin and who are we going to take. I'm happy to wheel our medium pace. I'll be more than happy to do the job with off-spin as well. I still bowl them in Shield cricket here and there if there are left-handers on strike or there's a wicket that offers spin," said Webster.
While the Lanka tour is almost a month away, for the next two days, it will be all about being ready if the chance comes for Webster. And if he does, expect the lanky seamer to crank it up against the Indian batting order.