WHEN Bathurst cricket product Jono Dean arrived in Adelaide late last week to join his Strikers team-mates ahead of the new Big Bash League season, he carried more with him that just his bats and pads.
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He also carried a burning desire to succeed in the most explosive form of cricket.
Dean made his debut in the Big Bash League last season, playing for the Strikers in the Twenty20 format competition. While injury kept him carrying the drinks for the first half of their campaign, he finally got a start against the Perth Scorchers at the WACA.
Dean went on to score 59 runs from three innings at a strike rate of 184 (a Strikers record), an effort which saw the club extend his contract for another two seasons. However, the talented top order batsman knows he can offer the Strikers more.
“I’ve got two years, but I really want to perform over the next two months, and if I can kick on and make a few scores and contribute to the Strikers winning games and hopefully winning the comp, it’s all good for me,” the 30-year-old said.
“I want to perform and I want to get some big scores.”
The Strikers will play their first game of season 2014-15 this Thursday against the Melbourne Stars at the Adelaide Oval.
Should Dean get the nod as part of the starting line-up, he will face a team which includes former English Test star Kevin Pietersen plus Australian representatives Cameron White, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, David Hussey and James Faulkner.
“The quality of players is amazing,” Dean said. “We have got the Stars the first round, so hopefully I can get on the park and take on KP [Kevin Pietersen].
“But we have got some superstars ourselves, [Kieron] Pollard, [Johan] Botha and Shaun Tait, so it’s very exciting times.
“I’ll be given a specific role by the coach I’d say. I’ll stick to the game plan and hopefully it comes off.”
In the lead-up to the Big Bash League, Dean has been playing grade cricket in the Canberra competition for Weston Creek.
He has made 424 runs from eight innings, which includes a century against ANU, 88 against Ginninderra and 63 against Tuggeranong.
While Dean has not played any Futures League matches for the ACT Comets representative side this season and the step up to the Big Bash League from Canberra Grade is a big one, the Bathurst product said he is in good touch.
“I feel pretty good, I’m in some pretty good nick. I’ve been scoring in grade cricket and feeling just as good, if not better, than this time last year,” he said.
“It would have been nice to play those four-day games [with the Comets], but it’s given me an opportunity to focus solely on the BBL and prepare for that.
“The quality in grade cricket has been up and down for years, but you’ve still got to make of it what you can. You’ve still got to score the runs and still take the wickets.”
If Dean is able to extend his club form to the Big Bash League and the Sixers qualify for the final, it will carry with it an added bonus.
The final will be played at Canberra’s Manuka Oval, a wicket Dean has played many an innings on.
“It would be amazing to play in front of my home crowd, get a packed ground here and watch the Strikers take the flag,” he said.
