Fast bowler Jordan Buckingham’s rise from Greenvale Second XI to Australia A

Some would argue that the 23-year-old is the future of Australian fast bowling.

The rangy quick from Craigieburn in Melbourne’s northern suburbs was one of the heroes of South Australia’s thrilling three-run Sheffield Shield victory over Queensland.

Test opener Usman Khawaja had the Bulls one boundary from victory, thwarting a bouncer barrage on his way to 114. Then Buckingham struck, piercing Khawaja’s defence to clinch a famous victory.

Within seconds he was sprinting towards fine leg, only slowing to shoosh the Gabba crowd after sealing a famous win for a state which has been starved of success.

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Buckingham was still a teenager when he was thrown to the wolves in Premier Cricket firsts by Greenvale Kangaroos.

Due to start the 2017-18 season in local turf cricket, he instead took the new ball for the Roos’ Second XI. Two weeks later, he was charging in against two of the greatest batters in Victorian grade cricket history on First XI debut: Dandenong run machines Tom Donnell and Brett Forsyth.

“I reckon I went 0-50 off seven or eight,” Buckingham says. “It was a one-day game, my debut, and it was a pretty tough graft.”

Buckingham in fact took 0-20 from five overs.

After four First XI games, he had two wickets. After 11 matches, that tally had doubled to four.

“We always knew that he had something,” says Greenvale’s senior assistant and bowling coach from that season, Callum Appleyard.

“I think pretty quickly they realised that there’s some talent there.

“He was not as tall as what he is now and he was quite a skinny kid as well.”

Buckingham finished that campaign with 10 scalps at an average of 53.

“It was more, ‘Let’s not worry about the stats. Let’s blood you. Let’s get you to the level (because) we think you’ve got something’,” Buckingham says.

“(I’m) very grateful for the opportunity they gave me.”

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Buckingham was in the thoughts of Victorian selectors by 2020, when he was named in the state’s emerging performance squad.

Hungry for more success and more runs to bowl at, he had made the move west to Footscray, where he would play under legendary quick Allan Wise.

But at that time, the production line of Victorian fast bowlers was long.

Mitch Perry was rising through the ranks, Brody Couch and Sam Elliott were on the radar and Fergus O’Neill had been chosen in the same performance squad.

Then South Australia, rebuilding its program after years without success, made contact.

“I’d made a pact with my parents that if something came up, whether it was interstate or with Victoria, there’d be absolutely no way I’d turn it down,” Buckingham says.

“There was a little bit of a turnover with senior fast bowlers here with Chadd Sayers, Frankie Worrall heading out and they were starting to put a new squad together.

“Obviously (there was more) opportunity there as well, compared to Victoria, who had a lot of young quicks in line.

“For me, it was an absolute no-brainer.”

It wasn’t long before the comparisons to his Redbacks coach Jason Gillespie started.

“I think you can see a few similarities. Obviously tall, skinny fast bowlers. It’s obviously a nice comparison to have,” Buckingham says.

“His career and stats speak for themselves.”

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Buckingham’s rise has been almost as quick as that sprint towards the Gabba boundary.

After 13 first-class matches as a Redback, he has 44 wickets.

He has also featured for Australia A and attracted interest from county clubs including Northamptonshire, where he played three matches.

“Even at an early age, sometimes everyone might get caught up and say, ‘Jeez, he looks good. He could be something’,” Appleyard says.

“But I think there’s one in every 10 you might say that about that actually do kick on to the next level.

“He was definitely one as he was coming through that, if he was able to piece it all together, you just don’t know what could happen.”

Buckingham snared five wickets against New Zealand A in August. In April, he took 6-58 against the Kiwis.

The other bowlers in the August match were injury-plagued quick Joel Paris (30 years old), Mark Steketee (29) and Perry (23).

With Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc and Scott Boland on the wrong side of 30, discussion will soon turn to the next era of Australian fast bowling.

There seems no doubt that the name Jordan Buckingham will feature prominently.

“It’ll be something where I can say we bowled together when I was at the back end of my career,” former Footscray teammate Hamish Winter-Irving says.

“I was almost finished my career at district cricket and he was just starting his.

“I was mentored by a couple of older guys when I first went (to Footscray), so I wanted to do the same thing. All you do is just watch them grow now.

“To see him get to where he is … he’s a good kid who has come from Greenvale to now playing seconds for Australia, it’s a pretty big step.

“I’m just so proud of what he’s done.”

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Winter-Irving sensed a career-defining change in Buckingham after his move to Footscray, which plays at the oval named after legendary Australian quick Merv Hughes.

Buckingham arrived as a timid kid with 10 games of First XI cricket behind him but within months, he discovered a key trait that most of the world’s best fast bowlers possess: mongrel.

“He’s got a bit of aggression too and he started to show that,” Winter-Irving says.

“I think that’s what has got him to where he is now. I remember a couple of games, he started to bounce blokes out.

“I was like, ‘He’s got it all if he can start to move the ball a bit, that’s going to hold him in good stead’. He got quicker as the years went on.

“I obviously didn’t like facing him in the nets. Because of his height, he’s got that natural bounce too.”

Appleyard remembers the shift in attitude well.

“He was always talking to the right people he needed to and put the hard work in. If you’re able to piece all that together, it’s going to put you in a good position to go as far as you possibly can,” he says.

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Buckingham was taught to dream big by his parents, Jodie and Steve. He remembers wanting to play first-class cricket even while he was learning the game at Craigieburn.

“I always had that motivation and drive from a young age to go and watch the Shield cricket at the Junction Oval and MCG, go and watch the Big Bash,” he says.

“I was in awe of some of the guys I am now playing with.

“It was always when an opportunity arose, take it with both hands and don’t let anyone take your spot.”

But the ultimate was always wearing the baggy green.

For most, that dream never comes close to being a reality. Buckingham has thrust himself onto the national radar thanks largely to the pledge he made with his parents, that he would never turn down a first-class opportunity.

“These opportunities don’t come around very often,” he says.

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“There’s what ... 60 contracted first-class cricketers in Australia or whatever it is that are playing, so there’s not that many spots.

“It was a no-brainer. As soon as SA got in touch, I couldn’t sign the contract quickly enough.”

Now, Australian cricket stands to be the beneficiary of Buckingham’s leap of faith.