Cricket-mad Wallaby Wilson out to grab 'rugby's Ashes'

SPOTLIGHT: Harry Wilson has already hit Marnus Labuschagne for six – and now the Wallabies’ cricket-mad skipper would love nothing more than to dish out the same to England in ‘rugby’s Ashes’.

Wilson leads his side into battle at Twickenham on Saturday, knowing they’re heavy underdogs after a dispiriting sequence of three straight losses under his stewardship.

But in what promises to be a pivotal Test for two developing sides who are nursing losing 4-5 records in 2024 and can hardly afford another morale-sapping loss, Wilson is taking inspiration from the nation’s cricketers who he watched on TV last year late into the night when they retained the Ashes.

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The 24-year-old Wilson accepts the figures look bleak – England have won 10 of the last 11 Tests between the teams – but he smiled on the eve of match: “We don’t have the best record against them in the past few years, but there’s nothing better than trying to get one up on them.

“We have such good rivalry in many sports. I love my Ashes cricket and you know how intense that rivalry is. The opportunity to play against England in their own backyard is so exciting. It would be exciting for us to get one up on them.”

A decent junior player himself and still the record-holder for the fastest century [off 35 balls] ever hit in Queensland schools matches, Wilson reflected:”I probably preferred my cricket throughout my schooling life, I’m very much a cricket nuffy, I live and  breathe it.”

Such a nuffy, indeed, that he was happy to pass on a bit of advice to Australia’s cricket selectors for the forthcoming series about who should be opening alongside Usman Khawaja.

“I played all my junior cricket and a lot of grade cricket with Nathan McSweeney back in Australia – I think we should pick him in the opening batsman for the first Test match against India,” grinned Wilson.

“You Englishmen probably don’t know him too well, but I’m sure in the next year or so, you’ll get to know him pretty well.”

Of his own prowess, he recalled: “I was in probably grade 11 when I knew that footy was the avenue I wanted to go down.”

Still, he hasn’t lost his touch. In August, he joined some of his Wallabies’ teammates for a net session with Labuschagne in Brisbane, and Wilson couldn’t help himself as he noted with some pride: “I hit him for. few sixes.

“But I guess for me, it’s good to have that sort of love of cricket still. I’m fully invested in my rugby, but just to have that little outlet where the Test matches are on and I’ll just sit up all night watching it, it’s always nice.”

He know there’ll be plenty of his countrymen who’ll be having their own early-hours vigil on Sunday morning watching Joe Schmidt-coached Australia trying to earn their first win at Twickenham for nine years and getting a first glimpse of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, on his much-hyped international rugby debut.

“I’m super-excited for him. I reckon he’ll go out there and do himself and his family proud because it’s one heck of an opportunity for him,” Wilson enthused.

“At only 21 years old, he’s picked up the game very quickly. The way he’s trained and just the way he’s joined into the group has been awesome. It’s like he’s been here for a while.”