INTERVIEW
Follow UsNathan Ellis admits ‘it almost feels like a different life’.
Just over four years ago, Ellis was a club cricketer without a state contract who did not know what the future had in store for him.
Months before the start of Australia’s 2019/20 domestic season, Ellis didn’t even know if he was going to make it as a cricketer — he was working various jobs to make ends meet, including removing furniture, landscaping, installing air-conditioners and labouring on construction sites.
Fast forward to March 2024, those days of struggle are a distant memory for Ellis, who is now a centrally contracted Cricket Australia (CA) player apart from being an established performer in the T20 franchise circuit.
“It has all happened really, really fast. Just really excited, happy and proud,” Ellis tells Cricket.com from Lucknow, speaking hours after being awarded his maiden CA contract.
“Almost a surreal feeling when I think back to four years ago and think where I am now — sitting in a hotel in Lucknow and replying to messages from my friends and family back in Australia. It’s crazy to think. Really honoured, proud and happy.
“When I reflect back on what’s happened, it’s really cool. It (making it as an international cricketer) is one of those things that was a dream of mine. It’s surreal. I’m just extremely grateful.”
A few years ago, Ellis found himself at home during the off season but, these days, the months of April and May look very different for the 29-year-old, who has established himself as a reliable overseas player in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He is currently in his fourth season with the Punjab Kings (PBKS), who bought him for his base price of INR 75 lakh at the mega auction in 2022.
Ellis has started this season on the bench but he had a very successful IPL 2023, finishing as Punjab’s second-highest wicket-taker with 13 wickets in 10 games at an economy of 8.92.
Funnily enough, the first link-up with the Kings back in 2021 came as a big surprise for Ellis, who was roped in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Riley Meredith.
“It all happened really, really fast,” the speedster says, recalling his PBKS call-up.
“At that time, the world was crazy with Covid. I was actually sitting in a quarantined hotel, about to go home. Got the call (from Punjab Kings), didn’t expect it. I just wanted to jump at the opportunity and get to the IPL as quickly as I could.”
After roping him in as a replacement, Punjab drafted Ellis into the starting XI almost right away and the pacer, who was then a rookie back in 2021, was thrown into the deep end on debut, tasked with defending 17 off the final over against a rampant Jason Holder.
The Sharjah factor made things infinitely worse for the speedster.
“Considering the match was in Sharjah, small ground and flat wicket, I knew even before the game started that I was gonna have my work cut out,” Ellis says, recalling his IPL debut.
The odds, then, were stacked against Ellis, but on debut, under extreme pressure, the right-armer held his nerve to bowl Punjab to a 5-run victory. Post the game, Ellis established himself as a Punjab Kings cult hero, and it’s been a two-way love affair ever since.
“That game was a great experience on a personal level. When you’re put in such a situation, it is always tense,” Ellis recalls.
“And I remember it was my first ever experience in really wet conditions. I struggled to hold on to the ball. It was a really exciting but tense experience. I’m getting sweaty palms just by thinking about that moment.
“Was just happy and relieved to come out on the right side of that result. Luckily I executed a couple of balls in that final over that helped us get over the line.”
At the time of his PBKS debut, Ellis only had two international appearances under his belt but he’d already made a name for himself as a prominent death-overs bowler.
That was thanks to the mastery at the death he displayed in his maiden Big Bash League (BBL) season in 2019/20, where he bowled more overs at the death (23.1) than any other bowler and took 10 wickets in the 16-20 phase for Hobart Hurricanes at an economy of 8.8.
He broke into the scene as a ‘death-overs specialist’ and four years on, it’s still his impeccable ability at the death that’s making the 29-year-old stand out.
Why did Ellis opt to specialize in a very niche but difficult role? Simple: because he knew that it would make him stand out.
“It’s probably something I naturally fell into,” Ellis says, talking about how he became a death-overs specialist.
“Growing up, I was always a new ball bowler, a swing bowler. I would bowl at the start and then the end. I think over time, I developed the yorker and then started just experimenting with different slower balls.
“Death bowling is quite a niche role, so I think that’s what got me into the scene initially. There’s a lot of people who can swing the ball — something I really like doing and still enjoy doing — but death bowling is a niche role. I felt like if I could narrow and zero-in on two things, a good yorker and a good slower ball, it would put me in good stead.
“That was my plan in the short term. The decision ultimately put me in good stead once I did get my opportunity in the biggest stages. When I did play at the highest level, I had the comfortability to fall back on my slower ball / yorker when things were hitting the fan.”
Ellis has a killer yorker in his locker but it’s his back-of-the-hand slower ball that’s truly proven to be his USP and helped him stand out and be a point of difference.
In all T20s since the start of 2020, Ellis has bowled a whopping 392 back-of-the-hand slower balls — which is 114 more than any other bowler in the world.
And the delivery has been a super powerful weapon for the right-armer, who has taken 20 wickets with this particular ball, the most for any bowler in the world with this delivery type.
In Ellis’ own words, it took him ‘a lot of time’ to gather the courage to bowl the back-of-the-hand slower ball in an actual game, but he’s glad that the delivery has helped him be distinctive and successful.
“I have always bowled the off-cutter, that was always my slower ball. I can’t remember a time when I said to myself that I was going to learn the back-of-the-hand slower ball. It was a natural evolution,” Ellis says.
“As a white-ball bowler, you need to be evolving all the time. The thing I do remember is that it took me a long time to actually bowl it in a game.
“In the nets you practice it and I felt like I got to a point where If I bowled 10 back-of-a-hand slower balls, eight would be good and two would hit the top net or the side net. So it took me a long time to get the confidence to bowl it in a game. But once I did and once I saw it working, it turned into a go-to ball.
“But I don’t want to rest on my laurels with that ball. The longer you play at this level, people start to see you and expect certain things from you. So I think the bigger task for me is more the sequencing side of things.”
Despite registering eye-catching numbers and impressing whenever he’s had a chance, Ellis has had a stop-start career, both at the international level and in the IPL. That, though, is purely due to the quality of players he’s had to compete against: generational superstars such as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Kagiso Rabada.
Not breaking through despite putting up exceptional performances can be frustrating, but Ellis knows his time will come. For now, he’s happy and grateful to have the opportunity to learn from some all-time greats.
“I definitely see it as an opportunity to learn, and I think you pair that with my pathway,” Ellis says, talking about how he’s had to compete with generational talents.
“I’m someone who’s come in really late and it’s all happened really quickly. So I feel like I’d be making a mistake if I didn’t try to learn from these guys who have been around forever.
“Because I’ve had a unique journey, it’s a bit surreal to be talked about in the same conversation as the likes of Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and now Rabada. I also feel like the story of my career has been to fight and prove myself. Which is something I’m okay with.
“For me, when I do get the opportunity, it’s trying to take it with both hands. I always want to be a) in the mind-frame to put my best foot forward and b) physically ready to go. All I’m doing is trying to help where I can, be a good teammate and be ready if I do get the chance.”
Four and a half years into his professional career, Ellis is now considered a white-ball specialist, with 50-over games and T20s accounting for 94% of the matches he’s played.
However, there exists a very good red-ball bowler inside the 29-year-old, who had an outstanding Sheffield Shield season for Tasmania in 2020, taking 30 wickets at an average of 23.00.
Ellis says he’s open to playing red-ball cricket regularly but admits that, at this point in time, wearing the Baggy Green for Australia isn’t a realistic dream.
“I’ve played a handful of red-ball games where I’ve done okay. But since then I really haven’t had the opportunity to play first-class cricket,” Ellis says.
“It wasn’t like a decision from me where I was trying to distance myself from red-ball cricket. It was more that the opportunity for me was in white-ball cricket (to play for Australia). So I was trying to do everything I could to get myself right for that.
“Red-ball cricket is still there for me, but I feel like I don’t have the amount of experience to know what sort of red-ball cricketer I could be. That’s sort of something that’s in the back of my mind. I do feel like now, the Test cricket dream is probably not a reality.
“For the moment, I’ve got the blinkers on for the T20 Word Cup. Hopefully I can put my name in the ring for that and put my name forward to get more opportunities for Australia.”
