Alex Ross

Alex Ross was born in Melbourne and currently plays for South Australia in the domestic circuit. Having spent most of his childhood in Christchurch, New Zealand, Ross played a lot of hockey in his youth and attributes his success in playing the sweep shot to the same, which ingrained the shot into his muscle memory. He played youth cricket in Canberra and Adelaide before graduating to senior-level cricket for the Redbacks.

Ross made his domestic debut in the One-Day cup in 2012. However, he shot to fame in early 2016, pertaining to his dream run in the 2015/16 Sheffield Shield season, only his second, where he scored 642 runs at an average of 35.66. He was bestowed with the coveted Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year award during the Allan Border Medal night in January 2016, on account of his aforementioned Sheffield performance.

However, he is better known for his powerful stroke-play in the limited-overs formats, especially in T20 cricket. He got picked by the Adelaide Strikers for the Big Bash League based on his stellar performances in the 2014 Matador Cup and went on to play two seasons for the Strikers, scoring 247 runs at an unprecedented strike rate of 143.60. Ross immediately made a name for himself in the Big Bash League, particularly due his penchant for playing the sweep shot, to merit the nickname 'sweepologist' from Damien Fleming.

In February 2016, Ross signed a 3-year deal with the Brisbane Heat. He has received backing from the Brisbane Heat coach Daniel Vettori, and teammate Chris Lynn, who have expressed that Ross was a potential match-winner and that he was going to be an indispensable asset going into subsequent seasons of the Big Bash League. He started with an explosive 65 for the Heat against his former side, Adelaide Strikers. Ross' success at the BBL also earned him a contract with the Jamaica Tallawahs for the CPL in 2016 but he was given just three games.

In 2019, Ross signed with the Sydney Thunder and with his form fizzling out, he failed to live up to the expectations he'd once set. Although a regular for his BBL side, Ross failed to break past that level.

Fun Facts:

His father Ashley Ross, is a cricket coach, and was the assistant coach of the New Zealand Cricket for a brief period of time.

by Rishi Roy