LIAM Bowe has the talent and temperament to play cricket at the highest level, according to his club coach Craig Howard.
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The Sandhurst left-arm leg-spinner has turned heads at the national under-19 cricket championships in Adelaide where he is Victoria Country’s leading wicket-taker for the carnival.
Bowe has taken 11 wickets at an average of 20, including a best haul of 4-34 and will play a key role in Wednesday’s semi-final against the undefeated ACT/NSW Country.
“There is no limit to Liam’s potential,’’ Howard said on Tuesday.
“He’s doing the hardest skill there is in cricket, but he has all the skills to be a quality spinner.
“He has a great temperament, has a willingness to work hard and is a ripper kid. I’m really excited about where his cricket is heading.”
Howard, who played 16 first-class games for Victoria in the 1990’s before going in to coaching, has seen countless spin prodigies come through the cricket system only to falter when it came to taking the next step. He’s confident Bowe has what it takes to make the grade.
“I’ve seen spinners get to Melbourne and everyone has an opinion on what they should do and more often that not they don’t get the right advice,’’ Howard said.
“I’ll be doing the best I can to make sure Liam gets the right guidance. With the right guidance he has the opportunity to go all the way.”
Howard likened Bowe’s skill set to former Australian Test spinner and current Perth Scorchers Big Bash League star Brad Hogg.
“Liam reminds me of Hoggy in that he has a fast leg-break that can crash into your pads and a huge turning wrong’un that is very hard to hit,’’ Howard said.
“You’ve seen how successful Hoggy has been in Twenty20 cricket and I can’t see any reason why Liam couldn’t step into that type of cricket right away and have an impact.”
Bowe has had BDCA rivals in a spin this summer, taking 18 wickets at an average of 9.5, including best figures of 6-28. He recently completed his Year 12 studies and this summer will be his last in the BDCA.
“Next year he could just about go to any (Victorian Premier) club he wants to,’’ Howard said. “The most important thing is that he goes to the club that can give him the best support.”