"Fast spinner" Benny Howell ready to bring unique set of skills to Big Bash

SAM DALLING: Howell's armoury of tricks has been influenced by the talents of baseball pitchers and, after a hamstring problem ruled him out of last year's competition, he is ready to make his mark on the Big Bash

Sometimes life is as simple as being in the right place at the right time. But you can make your own luck, and you can put yourself in close proximity on the off-chance the moment comes.

Melbourne Renegades’ latest recruit, Benny Howell, did just that. Once the English season was done, he hopped on a flight to Australia more in hope than expectation: his calculated risk is about to pay off.

“I didn’t really get much of a summer last year so I thought I might as well go out and play some club cricket. I am lucky enough to have an Australian passport because my mum is from here and my parents are here.

“I came with slight hope of getting picked up and it has come through. With this whole situation, I thought there was every chance I might get picked up, especially after having a few conversations with Maxy Klinger – who is the coach – before I came. I am really excited.”

Of course, to play in the Big Bash takes more than chance: talent is a pre-requisite and Howell has that in abundance too.

For nearly a decade he has lit up the T20 Blast in Gloucestershire colours. His tally of 116 T20 wickets sees him top the county’s charts. Having already graced both the Bangladesh Premier League and the Abu Dhabi T10, he is now set for a Big Bash bow.

And when he steps out onto the field in Renegade red – a colour befitting of a man born in Bordeaux – there will be a sense of closure.

“The Renegades offered me a deal last year,” he explains. “But then I did my hammy and was out for 13 or 14 months in the end. There were a lot of complications and it is still not 100 per cent but I am alright to play pretty much to my full capacity.  I just have to manage it around games and training. It is about doing the right strength and rehab.”

^{Benny Howell is Gloucestershire's all-time leading T20 Blast wicket-taker}

And longer term? “Well, they are quite broad when they talk to me about it all but there is nothing to say that it would give me problems down the line. You never know with these big operations and injuries. I hope it won’t be something I have to deal with moving forward.”

It not a stretch to think that many Renegades’ fans might have gaps in their Howell-based knowledge: a globally renowned superstar he is not. 

Nominally a medium pacer, it is rare to see the seam come out straight and he has enough variety to keep the royal family entertained. But trying to describe him as a bowler is nigh on impossible: better left to the man himself.

“I am something between a fast spinner and a medium pacer. I am bowling mostly slower balls, off-spinners, knuckles, split fingers – more often than my pace on. I am a bit of a mixed bag, although sometimes I wish I was a spinner as it would be easier on the body.”

Howell started out life as a top-order batter. Boredom in the outfield led him to take up life bowling and from there he grew an armoury through meticulous study and a continued aversion to monotony.

“I got really, really bored with just bowling the same ball and at very slow pace compared to fast bowlers,” he tells The Cricketer.

“I thought: ‘I have got to do something to change it up.’ So, I started learning. Six or seven years ago, I fell in love with the way baseball pitchers throw different change-ups. They are really interesting people to be honest – almost obsessed with how they throw the ball, their fingers, how they grip the ball.

“It is very, very in-depth sort of stuff and I am really intrigued by it. I basically became obsessed with it and started loving doing it. I guess it was a natural progression. Cricket is developing more and more, and I feel like it still will continue to develop because it still hasn’t reached its full height with regards to change ups. But it is getting there.”

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Howell is a self-confessed all or nothing type of guy. Cricket’s answer to a method actor, if you like, so it is no surprise to hear the lengths of his devotion.

“The thing is, I really love it. It is quite soothing on days off to go out to nets on my own to play around with lots of grips on different balls. It is a real enjoyment for me. Everyone thinks you should get away from the game, but I don’t really get too fussed about that. For me, it is a passion and my idea of a day off is to keep active.”

Howell’s new employers have endured a Jekyll and Hyde few years. Champions two seasons ago, they endured a torrid time of things last year.

As title defences go, it was non-existent; they limped home in last, starting with nine defeats on the spin and ending six points behind seventh-placed Brisbane Heat, despite beating them twice.

But Howell, who has spent the last couple of weeks training with his new teammates, believes there is enough variety in the side for them to turn it around.

“Everyone has got some unique skills,” he says. “Our team in particular has a lot of variation with the ball. There is Josh Lalor, the left-arm opening bowler; there are few young spinners who look really good; there is Jon Holland, the left arm spinner; myself now, a couple of fast bowlers. We have got a really good bowling pack.

“Then you have the likes of Aaron Finch, Shaun Marsh and Rilee Rossouw at the top of the order.  If everyone does their bit well it is an exciting team.”

And as he points out, T20 success so often comes when the collective is firing.

^{A hamstring injury ruled Howell out of last year's Big Bash after being offered a contract by Melbourne Renegades}

"A lot goes into a winning team and every player is valuable in their own right. A quick 10 or 20 could be really valuable, or a guy bowls a gun death over – picks up a wicket for six runs. Little things that like that are so important. If everyone does their role to the best they can, with the variation we have to keep it fresh, we are in with a good shout.”

A successful Big Bash could lead Howell to bigger and better things; he is set to enter January’s IPL auction. An England call-up remains the ultimate goal but Howell is well aware that Eoin Morgan’s white-ball sides are amongst the hardest in the world to break into. 

To an outsider his chances might appear slim but with back-to-back World Cups on the horizon, strong performances in global competitions will not go unnoticed.

“I haven’t actively looked at any players to see how I can get in,” he says. “I want to still play for England for sure, but I just want to do as best I can in whatever game I play in. I know that is pretty cliché but that is how I am seeing things.

“In the past I sometimes got frustrated but that doesn’t help me improve and get better. If I am in that mindset, I am not really enjoying the game. I have the Big Bash to perform well in first. I know I can perform well but I have got to go out and do it if I get the chance.

“Hopefully, I get the chance in a few games – more than a couple ideally – and then you never know what will happen. I am just going to enjoy it and do as well as I can. If they need a leggie, I have been working on those while injured so we will see how they come out next year!”

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