Lanka, Pakistan T20s: Turner vows to shine for Aussies

SYDNEY: Australia all-rounder Ashton Turner, who has made a comeback in the national squad for the upcoming home T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, is eager to make an impact with both bat and ball for his team.

Turner’s last international appearance came in the last of five ODIs against India earlier this year in March, when Australia beat the Virat Kohli-led side 3-2 to register their first bilateral series win in India after 2009.

In the fourth ODI of the series, in Mohali, the 26-year-old had scored a stroke-filled 43-ball 84 not out to help his side chase down India’s 358-9 with 13 balls to spare.

However, with Steve Smith and David Warner making an international return and he himself sustaining a finger injury, Turner hasn’t been in Australia’s national set-up since.

Now as he makes a comeback for home T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the all-rounder can’t wait to take the field for the national team again. “Probably the most exciting moments of my cricketing career have come from playing for Australia, and it’s an environment that I loved being in,” Turner told cricket.com.au.

“All of my team-mates were so welcoming, and I remember once I got into that squad I thought ‘this is the place I want to be, this is the team I want to be playing for’.

“I’ve had some injuries and a bit of time at the WACA gym recently, running laps, doing my rehab. But that whole time I had, in the back of my mind, playing for Australia again. It’s certainly a big goal for me, and I don’t care what format it is, I just love playing for Australia.”

Turner has also been having trouble with his shoulder in recent times, which has kept him away from bowling his off-breaks. He’s been playing as a specialist batsman in domestic cricket but identifies bowling as a key aspect of his game. “I’m not too far away from getting back to bowling, and I’m hoping that particularly in T20 cricket it won’t be long before I can play as an all-rounder again,” he said.

“Throwing is going to take a bit more time, but by the start of the Big Bash, I fully expect to be bowling again and be able to play a role for the Scorchers, or for Australia. It’s a really important part of my game, particularly in white ball cricket.

“I’ve got a pretty serious shoulder injury and it meant that I’ve played a lot of games not at one hundred per cent, and my bowling and throwing have been really restricted.

“That’s well documented, but on the other hand, I’ve actually been really fortunate because I’ve had a really serious injury and yet I haven’t missed a game of cricket because of it. I’ve been able to play as a batter.”