Squad goals: Callum Ferguson setting new targets to illuminate twilight of career

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"I am sure in 10 years’ time we will tell the story of how we were all jumping into Chinooks to get out of Adelaide and landing in the middle of the SCG but it wasn’t that dramatic,” laughs Sydney Thunders skipper Callum Ferguson.

When news broke that Covid-19 had reared its ugly head in South Australia again last month, Australian cricket moved swiftly to get both those due on national and Big Bash League duty to safety.

"I think we were out of there within 24 hours," he told The Cricketer. "We got the word that there were a couple of cases in Adelaide and a day later we are in Coffs Harbour. I suppose it was a bit dramatic in a way.

"I hadn’t been there before the beaches were really nice, the weather was magnificent, there are a couple of decent golf courses nearby and the training facilities were outstanding. It was a good couple of weeks, to be honest!"

In his 17 seasons in the professional game, Ferguson has seen it all. Capped by Australia in all formats, he has battled back from multiple serious knee injuries and churned out runs for fun:18,064 at last count. And with 450 professional games under his belt, it is little wonder he is a bastion of calm.

With ample experience in his midst - Usman Khawaja, Alex Hales and now Sam Billings, Adam Milnes and new arrival Ben Cutting - it is little wonder Ferguson fancies his side’s chances of emulating their female counterparts.

Thunder’s women stormed to the WBBL title, crushing Melbourne Stars in a final watched by more than 429,000 on TV.

"We feel like we are leading the way with women’s cricket over here," he said proudly. "The men’s and women’s games go hand-in-hand women are getting the airtime they deserve these days which is great.

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"Look at the T20 World Cup final over here at the MCG showed every bit of that (86,174 saw Australia beat India back in March). The crowd was extraordinary – a full house and a cricket extravaganza really. The WBBL has added so much to the Australian cricket summer and hopefully, we will start to see a lot more of that around the world and the women’s game will be taken to another level over the next couple of years.”

Ahead of Big Bash 10, Ferguson has been reflecting on a career which is inching towards its final chapters. Last month, he bowed out of first-class cricket having served South Australia, his home State, with distinction since debuting in 2004.

His final red-ball act – he will continue to play one-day cricket for them – was to jump to fourth on the State’s all-time scorers list with 97 against Queensland. No current player has more Shield runs than his 8,318 and he finishes level with the late Sir Donald Bradman on 19 Redbacks’ hundreds (albeit Bradman scored them in just 31 outings).

Fittingly, close friends Greg Blewett, Jason Gillespie and Tim Nielsen, all working with South Australia in different capacities, were all present at both ends of Ferguson’s journey.

"Tim was the assistant coach when I first came into the Redbacks squad as a rookie, and he was also the head coach when I first played for Australia," he explained. "Blewy was playing when I made my debut. He would hate to hear this but I had a poster of him on my wall I think as a kid taking a diving catch with the Australian one day team and he's now a lifelong friend.

"Dizzy (Gillespie) was also playing when I first started out and of course, he was the coach when I pulled the pin on Sheffield Shield cricket. It really did go full circle and that's a pretty nice story I suppose and something that there were guys that I went through almost the entire journey with so that was pretty cool.

It was Blewett who presented Ferguson with the most coveted of all Australian possessions: the Baggy Green. The right-hander received No.445 in late 2016 and though defeat by an innings and 80 runs to South Africa in Hobart was his only Test outing, it remains a special moment.

^{Callum Ferguson's Test career was short-lived, yet remains one of his main achievements}

"Just having one and going through the presentation process of receiving it on the day of the Test from one of my closest mates, was an incredible feeling,” he said. "There were some players in that team that I have played a lot of cricket with, both in short form and on Australia A tours, and so it was very special.

"The Test match obviously didn't go to plan and things started to spin a little bit more out of control than what you're used to seeing from an Australian team. It was an obviously quite a dramatic little period, but regardless of the circumstances I will always look back fondly on it."

That solitary Test was far from Ferguson’s only international appearance: he served his country with distinction in white-ball cricket a decade ago. Unquestionably, only a cruel combination of injury and circumstance prevented him racking up far more caps. A knee injury suffered during the 2009 Champions Trophy final against New Zealand at Centurion saw him spent a year out of the game and virtually ended his international career. He would make just five further outings for his country.

"I am a very positive person naturally," he adds. "I have managed to get a Baggy Green and not too many people have managed to that. That is something I am enormously proud of. There were some obvious frustrations throughout my career with injuries – there are never good times for them – but I am very proud of the fact I nailed down a middle-order spot in the world’s number one ODI side for a period of time until that first full knee reconstruction.

"Of course, I will look back and think 'I would have loved to have played more international cricket'. I believed I was good enough to have done but at the same time, there have been a raft of players in our part of the world that, in my eyes have been well and truly good enough, but probably didn’t get the opportunities that you could say they deserved, or in another time might have received.

"Once it's all said and done and I stop playing all three formats I'll certainly have a glass half full view on it. It's certainly been a hell of a journey and one that I've been really pleased to have been on."

One thing Ferguson will have to go without is though, is a Sheffield Shield winner’s medal. Though if you offered Redbacks the sanctuary of back-to-back final defeats, as they suffered in 2016 and 2017, they might very well take it.

^{Though his first-class career might be over, Ferguson has plenty to look forward to}

A three-year malaise following and sparked an independent enquiry into South Australian cricket, led by Mike Hussey. Jason Gillespie’s appointment to coach his home state is among the steps taken so far.

"We have had quite a difficult couple of years but having Jason coming back in has breathed a fresh lease of life into it,” Ferguson said. "I'm really confident that things will be heading in the right direction for the next few years. What we have got is a great set of staff around the place and great facilities. The Hussey review will hopefully iron out any kinks in the armour around the place and the boys will be able to flourish over the next few years."

Ferguson’s playing career is far from done. As well as continuing to hunt a first Big Bash crown, he hopes to return to Worcestershire having already enjoyed a successful couple of seasons at New Road.

He also intends to take full advantage of the global T20 circuit.

"There is so much happening around the world and you get to see different parts of the world. There is even the Canadian T20 going on which I heard good reviews of. I will be looking to get around to see of those tournaments I haven’t had a chance to do yet.

"Whenever I am talking to young people playing their sports at a young age and they ask me what I love about cricket travel is one of the things at the top of the list. You are so lucky to get to travel the world, play the sport that you love and get paid to do it. There are plenty of opportunities to see different cultures and feel very blessed to have had that opportunity."

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