Leading Australian attack would be a feather in my cap: John Hastings

Australian pacer John Hastings had made a good comeback into the Australian side as they pulled off a series win against the hosts Sri Lanka. He was brought into the side after Nathan Coulter-Nile was injured and sent back home.

Hastings, who got a surprise call for the tour, grabbed the opportunity with both hands as he picked up 2 wickets in the 3rd ODI and the career-best figures of 6 for 45 in the 4th ODI as his side sealed a win in both the matches.

Ahead of the final ODI of the series, he said that he would “love” to lead the Australian pace attack and is looking forward to it. “If I did have a chance to lead the attack, it would be something I’ve worked towards over the last few years,” Hastings said on Saturday.

“I never really thought that I would get that opportunity. But now that I’ve come back and done okay, I’d really be looking to stick my hand up there and try to be that leader for some of the young bowlers. I’d love a chance to lead the Australian cricket team’s attack. That would be a big feather in my cap,” he added.

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Hastings’s bowling style is suited to the dusty Sri Lankan pitches but he is keen on making an impact in the South African conditions as well. “The thing that I really do love is proving people wrong,” Hastings said. “The one thing that I don’t like is being pigeonholed into certain types of surfaces and all that sort of thing. It will be another opportunity to show that I can do it on those types of pitches.”

“It will be another challenge but I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to adapt quickly and use that surface to my advantage,” he added.

Hastings said his former state coach David Saker has played a huge role in helping him become a better bowler. “He (Saker) said to me you’re never going to be able to bowl as quick as all the other guys so you need to be skilful, you need to be able to bowl at the death and you need to have all the different types of deliveries’,” Hastings said. “That’s one thing I learnt off him very early on and that has helped me throughout my career. He’s very honest in his assessment of people and players,” he signed-off.