Queensland have produced some fantastic cricketers over the years for Australia.
Opening batsmen haven’t missed that list, with Matthew Hayden the immediate name springing to mind.
But now a youngster plying his trade at the top of the order for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield may not be all that far away from making the next step.
Whether that is making the Australian team in the near future remains to be seen, but Bryce Street will at least start entering the discussion, particularly as David Warner’s career winds down towards an eventual retirement.
Street, at the age of 23, has rubber-stamped his position at the top of the Queensland side this Sheffield Shield campaign.
Unfortunately though consistency is what’s holding him back. The New South Wales-born opening batsman has looked fantastic at times, and downright poor at others, with concentration seeming to break at the worst of times all too regularly.
His 143 in the Shield opener against Tasmania in Adelaide during early October was something to behold, with the rest of the top order collapsing around him as Queensland attempted to chase down Tasmania’s 500.
Street played a gritty, determined knock of 143 from 334 balls though, and it’s something that has become part of his game.
Right back to the 2019 Marsh Cup final when Street came to the crease as a then 21-year-old with Queensland in all sorts of trouble at 3 for 44 in the tenth over, with all of Usman Khawaja, Sam Heazlett and Max Bryant back in the sheds.
Wickets of batsmen who should have been able to hold down the fort continued for the Bulls on that day, with Matt Renshaw and Jack Wildermuth the next two to depart. Street eventually went for 29, but he soaked up time and got Queensland into three figures, giving them a half-chance at posting a competitive total, which they did, clearing 200.
Since then, it has been that dogged determination that makes you think he could one day push for higher honours. He will most certainly need to add elements to his game, and turning strike over will be a big one, but he is an old-school top-order batsman who at worst has the ability to take the shine off the new ball and at best has the ability to score big runs.
Turning strike over is a pivotal element of batting in the modern game, and it’s something Street hasn’t quite mastered. To be able to take that pressure off and force the bowler to bowl to someone else is a skill, but an extremely important one at that.
Street isn’t ready for international cricket yet - of that there can be no doubt. But it will be an intriguing challenge for him when he represents Australia A next week in a warm-up game for the Ashes.
The Queensland-based opener needs to find a way to be consistent though, and in a hurry
With memories of his century fading and possibly a likelihood of being dumped out of the Queensland team had he not found runs in the current match, he made 87 in the first innings against South Australia, including batting for 50 overs on the opening day alongside Marnus Labuschagne on a pitch which was eventually (and controversially so) ruled unsafe by the umpires.
It was just another showing of the traits which have found him consistently at the top of the order for the Bulls this season, even with what could only be described as a slight lack of runs for the most part.
In between the two scores of 143 and 87, he has scored 22, 23, 14, 23, 0 and 6.
It’s a run like that which will send him miles back down the pecking order when it comes to even discussing who could one day open for Australia, let alone who is doing it right now.
Street isn’t the run of the mill cricketer with big shots and fast scoring rates in the modern game, but he is a player with enormous potential.
If he can harness it on a consistent basis, and improve his level of intent on the park, the sky could be the limit.
