Nathan Ellis has detailed the frustration of having a shot at consistent international cricket ruined by injury, as he prepares to represent Australia in his childhood city for the first time.
A Sydney junior who moved to Tasmania at age 22 in 2017 to pursue a chance, Ellis will play for Australia on the SCG for the first time in the second Twenty20 of the series against Pakistan.
The seamer has become one of Australia's most reliable white-ball bowlers, emerging as the first-choice paceman outside of the big three in the shortest format.
But after playing 26 T20 and 50-over matches since his 2021 debut, Ellis is frustrated to have had his recent run stunted.
He had long earmarked this year's winter series against England and Scotland as a chance to lock in his status, before being ruled out at the start of the tour with a hamstring injury.
The tear made him miss close to three months of cricket, before returning with figures of 3-9 from two overs in Thursday night's shortened T20 against Pakistan in Brisbane.
"It was a tour for Australia, which you never want to miss any games for Australia because you work so hard to get there," Ellis said.
"But that one in particular. I knew I was going to get a good opportunity to play some games for Australia.
"So it was one I had pinned in the calendar knowing the schedule and the workload of the stalwarts. I knew I was going to get a good run at it.
"So to miss that was really disappointing."
Ellis will again form part of a next-era style attack for Saturday night's clash, with Xavier Bartlett and Spencer Johnson in the squad.
Bartlett also missed the majority of the England tour, with a side strain injury, while Johnson has emerged as a late bloomer in Australia's white-ball bowling stocks.
All potentially now loom as part of the next era, alongside the likes of Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris.
"For us now not having played many games together, it's going to be cool to see the combinations and the patterns we can put together," Ellis said.
"And how we can dovetail into one another with Spence and X (Bartlett) and myself.
"I have seen X play over the last few Big Bashes and dominate, he obviously has so much talent and he's such a good bloke too."
