Playing Test cricket for Australia is my ultimate goal, asserts Riley Meredith

After impressing in the Big Bash League for two seasons, Riley Meredith reaped the reward for his hard work earlier this year as, days after being purchased for INR 8 crore by Punjab Kings in the IPL auction, the Tasmanian tearaway made his T20I debut for Australia. Bringing raw pace to the table, Meredith impressed, picking 4 wickets in 3 high-scoring games at an ER of 7.54, and established himself as an x-factor who could blow teams away on his day.

"You see these guys who are doing it at the moment, Mitch Starc and Pat Cummins, those sort of guys and you want to be them, really, you look up to them and you try to copy how they bowl.

As admitted by himself, Meredith has a long way to go in red-ball cricket. Thus far, he has played 18 first-class games and has picked up just 53 wickets at an unimpressive average of 35.58, and is not a guaranteed starter for his state-side Tasmania. But the talent is there for everyone to see, and the right-arm quick revealed that, during the time he spent with the Australian squad in England last year, he had a chat with Mitchell Starc on how to go about things. Starc, like Meredith, is an express tearaway, and the Tasmanian revealed that his senior partner advised him to utilize his raw pace to the fullest effect. 

"I've talked to Starcy about that (bowling flat out) a lot while we were in England as well," Meredith said.

“He's an unbelievable cricketer, he's done it in all three formats and he's got a great brain.He's probably Australia's best-ever one-day bowler so to be able to bounce anything off him is great and you know he's more than willing to share his knowledge and give you tips he thinks you can be doing."

Meredith, much like England’s Mark Wood, is a pacer who bowls at full throttle every time he runs in, but such an approach might not be sustainable in the longer format. The 24-year-old acknowledged the same, and revealed that he has been working closely with head coach Adam Griffith on how he can find a gear that’s sustainable.

"I've been speaking to 'Griffo' a little bit about it. T20 cricket for me, I've got about a 40 metre run up and I'm basically sprinting in 40 metres straight and trying to bowl as hard as I can for four overs but it's probably not going to work in four-day cricket trying to do that. Still be a fast bowler but just find that little gear that's a bit more sustainable."