Cooper Connolly could hardly have picked a worse day to announce his bona fides as an international cricketer.
Ordinarily, a 22-year-old long tipped for stardom scoring a match-winning hundred in oppressive conditions would be headline news in Australia, even accounting for the third ODI against Bangladesh being a dead rubber.
Only former captain Ricky Ponting and 1980s batter Steve B Smith (a namesake of the current player) have scored men’s ODI tons for Australia at a younger age. Connolly’s 149 in Dhaka was in fact the highest ODI score by an Aussie in Asia since Glenn Maxwell’s remarkable 201no against Afghanistan in 2023. Like Maxwell did in Mumbai, Connolly battled cramps and physical exhaustion.
Free-flowing Connolly blazes maiden international ton
None of which generated much interest back in Australia given the country’s football team had pulled off their turn-up over Turkey in the World Cup in Vancouver hours before the young gun’s 134-ball epic in Dhaka. Move over Connolly, Nestory Irankunda is here.
Connolly watched the highlights of the Socceroos’ win on the bus back to the hotel. “We were vaguely following the scores when we were out in the field,” he told cricket.com.au. “We got an update when they went 2-0 up. I guess every four years everyone in Australia turns off everything to watch them. It’s nice to see them get the first win.”
Even in Bangladesh, where the home side’s first 50-over series win over Australia was rightly celebrated as a major achievement, the focus on Connolly came via erroneous reports he had gifted the Suzuki motorbike he won by virtue of being the series’ leading run scorer to Litton Das.
Like Connolly, Das had suffered cramps during the brutally humid afternoon heat. Where Connolly soldiered on, Bangladesh’s wicketkeeper had been forced to retire hurt. Connolly enquired as to his welfare during the post-series presentation, and has been somewhat bemused at the reaction.
Litton Das was forced to retire hurt during the third ODI // Getty
“I spoke to him and said I hope he’s all good,” he said, ‘then people must have just seen him on the bike and thought I’d gifted it to him. I’m more than happy for him to have it if he wants it.”
Even if Australia at large has, Connolly will not soon forget his four-hour epic that almost doubled his tally of international runs, which had stood at 164 at an average of just 12.61 from 16 innings across all three international formats before Sunday.
Australia’s national selection panel has made no apologies for fast-tracking the allrounder. By September 2024, they had seen enough of his talent through 15 BBL appearances (and particularly his winning role in the Perth Scorchers’ BBL12 final victory) to hand him a T20I debut.
He had just four List A appearances behind him when he made his ODI debut in the same month, and the same number of first-class games under his belt when he was picked for the second Test against Sri Lanka in Galle last year.
Already he has worn many hats for Australia. In that Test (his only one to date) he was deployed at No.8 to deepen the batting, and used as a third spin option. He has performed a similar role in both white-ball sides; a maiden career five-wicket haul against South Africa in Mackay in August last year marked his best performance with the ball.
Connolly on target in maiden five-wicket haul for Australia
He has shown promise as a middle-order man too, stroking a match-turning unbeaten 61 from No.6 to guide Australia home in an ODI against powerhouses India at Adelaide Oval last November.
And now, after twice recording ducks as an ODI opener emboldened to attack during the Powerplay in the 50-over side (notably being thrown in the deep end for last year’s Champions Trophy semi-final loss to India), Connolly showed off the ball-striking capabilities that have so enchanted Australia’s top brass with his breakthrough knock against the Tigers.
“There’s definitely moments in the game where you’re like, ‘Am I ready for this?’ or ‘Can I perform at this level?'” he said. “To have that satisfaction of that last innings was really nice. It just gives you that confidence you do have some runs behind you, and that you can prove that you can succeed at this level.
“I’ve had moments where I’ve been probably picked as a bowler, and then I’ve been picked to bat at the top. I think I like that side of being versatile. As much as you want to lock in one position in the team, I think it’s also good to have different strings to the bow with my bowling and my batting.
“I think just being as adaptable as I can will give me the best chance to succeed in any conditions.”
‘There’s definitely moments where you’re like, ‘Am I ready for this?’ or ‘Can I perform at this level?’ // Getty
As much as Connolly’s versatility has presented him with opportunities, he showed in the recent IPL that he can thrive against the best when given an extended run in one spot.
For the Punjab Kings, he piled on 491 runs at 44.63 with a strike-rate of 163.12. Even allowing for the batter-friendly surfaces, they are strong numbers for a young overseas player in his maiden IPL campaign. He batted at No.3 in all but one innings.
Fresh off Australia’s T20 World Cup struggles in Sri Lanka where he batted at seven and eight, Connolly explained that Punjab coach Ponting had been clear from the season’s outset what his role would be.
“He just told me ‘if you’re going to play, you’re going to bat (three) – so just prepare to play and bat there’,” he said. “That made things a lot easier.”
To better manage an ongoing back injury, Connolly spent some time following the World Cup refining his technique with Western Australia coach Beau Casson. The issue has sidelined him from bowling since March, and meant his state left him out for a Sheffield Shield game he was available to play in as a batter only.
He admits he had developed some bad habits while in Australia’s T20I setup.
‘He just told me ‘if you’re going to play, you’re going to bat (three)’ // BCCI/Sportzpics
“I just made a couple of small tweaks, nothing too big, just to help me progress at the next level,” he said.
“Obviously, teams are going to watch footage and target me in different areas, so just understanding … there’s obviously going to be slight tweaks and changes that might need to be had to allow me to score in different (areas).
“It was just the ability to stick to my processes. This is more on the mental side, but I think in my first couple of tours, I got caught up in trying to impress and hit big bombs in T20 training and just trying to be like everyone else, I guess.
“But the only small technical tweak was just how I line up – sometimes my head falls over a little bit, so just making sure that head is getting straight back down to the bowler and allowing me access to the whole ground.”
In case you don’t know me: Cooper Connolly
In the Kings’ season opener, Connolly struck 72no from 44 balls against a Gujarat Titans’ attack featuring five Test bowlers, Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan among them.
“After not a great two months (before the IPL), it just gave me great confidence for the rest of the tournament,” he said. “It just sort of took a flow-on for the rest of the tournament. I think it was just getting back to enjoying the game of cricket – not that I lost enjoyment – but just making sure that was my number one purpose.”
Connolly acknowledges that having a singular focus on his batting has also helped, revealing his back niggle had in fact been diagnosed as a “hot spot”, not dissimilar to the one that sidelined Pat Cummins from bowling during the summer.
While Connolly’s injury never developed into a stress fracture, he confirmed he will miss a planned upcoming stint in the USA’s Major League Cricket.
“The hot spot is gone now,” he said of the injury more typically associated with fast bowlers than spinners. “It can happen to anyone. I’ll look to spend a bit of time in the gym in the next couple of months.”
And, beyond that, so too might Connolly spend a bit more time in Australian sport’s collective consciousness.
Qantas Tour of Bangladesh 2026
Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Adam Zampa
June 9: First ODI: Bangladesh won by 86 runs (DLS Method)
June 11: Second ODI: Bangladesh won by five wickets (DLS Method)
June 14: Third ODI: Australia won by one wicket
Australia T20I squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Nikhil Chaudhary, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Joel Davies, Nathan Ellis, Aaron Hardie, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Spencer Johnson, Matthew Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Adam Zampa
June 17: First T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 19: Second T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
June 21: Third T20I, Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium, Chattogram, 6pm AEST
All matches exclusive on Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket
