New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS): Scotland fast-bowler Charlie Cassell, who clinched a stunning seven-wicket haul on his ODI debut against Oman in July, said he never imagined achieving these figures and felt awesome afterwards.
Cassell bowled a record-breaking spell of 7-21 in his 5.4 overs – the best figures for any bowler on ODI debut, beating the record previously held by South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada. His astonishing performance meant Scotland bowled out Oman for 91 in their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match and secured an eight-wicket win.
"You never dream of getting seven-for so to get it on debut was awesome. The wickets just kept coming, before I knew it, I'd already bowled five overs and had six-for, and then to get seven was just crazy, honestly. I was really pumped to just be involved in the squad, and then be able to play and obviously the performances that came from that and what followed is really rewarding," said Cassell to cricket.com.au.
Interestingly, Cassell, who made his Scotland T20I debut against Australia, was brought up in Perth, the city where he moved in as a six-year-old after being born in Scotland. He played alongside current Australia players Cameron Green and Aaron Hardie when Western Australia won the U19 championship in 2017/18.
"As you can probably tell I don't sound Scottish at all, but my parents are both from the UK, so I've got quite a strong upbringing. All my family are in the UK, it's just my immediate family in Australia. I've always supported Australia over England, but I've always had that natural affinity towards Scotland, my place of birth and all that," he said.
Cassell moved to have a crack at cricket in Scotland and on impressing the people there, he was included in a Scotland Performance Academy side to take on Yorkshire Academy, where he took three wickets in his first match.
"The competition for domestic cricket in Australia is so tough, it's really tough to come into. If you're not bowling 140kph and whacking them around, it's hard to crack into and get a sniff. I was lucky enough to play Under-19s for WA, which I really enjoyed, but I never really had a sniff in getting higher up the pecking order. This opportunity arose, and I thought I may as well have a crack."
Cassell's next aim is to get into Scotland’s squad for the USA tour happening next month, including for a tri-series which also features Nepal, and added he won’t be going back to Sydney University.
"It's not necessarily daunting (coming up against Australia), it's just I've seen these guys play on the TV for so many years and then playing against them is just weird, isn't it? I never dreamed to do it, so I'm just going to enjoy the moment and this opportunity.
"Sydney Uni are a little disappointed I'm not coming back this season but they're over the moon for me. I was tempted to go back but I'm having the winter over here now and committing fully to Cricket Scotland," he concluded.