Australia’s teen sensation Ashton Agar’s Asian connect is now well known with his mother, Sonia, born in Sri Lanka. But the 19-year-old Australian’s successful debut against England at Trent Bridge, where he smashed a record-breaking 98, the highest score by a Test number 11, has also got an India reference.
“The bat with which he made these runs with is made in India,” said Michael Sheedy, who runs the bat supplying company named Tails Never Fail(s) (TNF), in Australia.
“We import bats from Meerut and Ashton has been using those bats,” he told this paper from Melbourne on Sunday.
“That friendship and partnership is set to pay big dividends for TNF, a boutique cricket label designed in Melbourne and made by one of India’s finest manufacturers.
“Watching Ash achieve his remarkable innings has been surreal,” Sheedy said.
“Even when he secretly knew he was going to be playing in his debut, he cheekily made sure he texted me in Australia to ask if I was going to be up watching the game.
“Team India skipper Dhoni hammered the match-winning runs with the heavy bat in the tri-series final in the West Indies, but Ashton prefers a light bat. He has a big backswing so he likes to be able to swing it quickly with a meaty middle,” Sheedy added.
Interestingly, Sheedy was Agar’s first captain at the Richmond Cricket Club in Australia. Sheedy said it was his time as a grade cricket captain that inspired the Tails Never Fails name for his label of cricket gear.
“In my whole time as a captain, I never once called heads, it seemed an appropriate name for my label. If Ashton ever becomes the captain of the national Test side, Australia may well be from then on, calling tails at the start of every match!” he joked.