Spinner Ashton Agar left Melbourne to join Western Australia’s squad this summer expecting he would advance no further than club cricket in his first season.
Instead, the teenager made his first-class debut for the Warriors, before remarkably being called up to Australia’s squad for the India tour as a net bowler.
But not only was he a net bowler, he also played two-games against an India Board XI in Chennai earlier this week, where he took a wicket.
The left-arm slow bowler is due to arrive back in Perth over the weekend and is available for the Warriors’ one-day game against Tasmania on Tuesday.
His call-up to India came as Cricket Australia tried to balance one-day commitments at home against the West Indies with the need to get to India in time for two warm-up games ahead of the first Test on February 22.
Agar, 19, will continue his education during the English winter as a net bowler for the Australian one-day and Test squads during the Champions Trophy and Ashes tours.
“I wasn’t expecting too much at the start of the summer but it has all happened very quickly and it has turned into a bit of a dream,” Agar told AAP.
“Towards the middle of the season I thought it would be club cricket the whole way through.
“Michael Beer was bowling really well but he got injured.
“That gave me an opportunity to play for Western Australia now to tour India for a week. It has been great.”
Agar said the chance to play in the tour game was very unexpected. He was briefed by national chairman of selectors John Inverarity and WA coach Justin Langer before leaving for India.
They told him to soak it all up and learn from the experienced players.
“I was just really excited. I wasn’t too nervous,” said Agar, who stands 187cm tall and bowls with a nice loop.
“It felt like a Test match because I was surrounded by Test players,” he said.
“It was an experience I won’t forget.”
Agar – whose mother Sonia was born in Sri Lanka – describes himself as having a calm personality.
“On the cricket field you try to get in the contest as much as you can,” he says.
“So I’m competitive but outside cricket, very relaxed.”
Agar’s role models are Aussie legspin great Shane Warne and a tall left-arm spinner from New Zealand called Dan Vettori.
“If I could be half or even a quarter of what they were, I’d be extremely happy,” Agar said.
“A few people have said I look a bit like Dan Vettori. Maybe some glasses (would help).”
Agar said he found the events of the past few weeks “mind-boggling” but he will focus simply on trying to grab every opportunity he can to improve his cricket.
His wicket-taking ball to India Board XI No.8 batsman Parvez Rassol came with an ultra-attacking field.
“It was a turning wicket so I got a ball to turn quite a bit and fortunately it caught the edge and Glenn Maxwell took the catch at second slip,” Agar said.
“I knew Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell from before, because I was originally from Victoria. They’ve all been very welcoming and supportive.”
His week of living the high life with the national squad ends this weekend and it will be back to the granny flat at the family home of WA squad-mate and fellow teenager Will Bosisto.