Bendigo cricket product Brayden Stepien is contemplating a move to Tasmania to assist his chances of earning a Big Bash League contract.
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With Melbourne in stage four restrictions until September 13 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the start date of the Victorian Premier Cricket season is October 24 at the earliest.
Stepien, an opening batsman and wicket-keeper for Carlton, is weighing up whether to sit and wait in Melbourne for the season to get the green light to go ahead or head south to Tasmania in the next month and play from the start of October.
The hard hitting left-hander played two BBL games for the Melbourne Renegades last summer and he knows his best chance of earning a contract this summer is to make a bright start to the season at club level.
"A couple of clubs have asked me to go down to Tasmania and start the season down there,'' Stepien said.
"It's an avenue where I could start the season in Tasmania and then come back to Carlton for the second half of the season.
"At this stage I'm not going to get much of an opportunity here (in Melbourne) to showcase my skills before the Big Bash.
"It's a bit of a risk, but it might be something I have to do to give myself the best chance (of getting a BBL contract).
"There's still some things I need to work through with Cricket Victoria and Carlton."
Stepien would need to go through a 14-day quarantine period in Tasmania before being cleared to play.
Stepien has had contact with both Victorian-based BBL clubs - the Renegades and Stars - but decisions on the final make-up of their respective squads remains weeks away.
"The Big Bash clubs are in an embargo period at the moment, so all I can worry about is doing everything I can to get my body right,'' Stepien said.
"I'll do everything I can do to get back to that level. I'm hungry to experience it again."
Melbourne's lockdown has put paid to net sessions for cricket clubs.
While he can't face Carlton's strong pace attack in the nets, Stepein has worked hard to improve his fitness.
"I'm working really hard on my body composition,'' Stepein said.
"I'm fitter than last year. I've dropped six kilograms since I finished playing Big Bash. It can be hard to be motivated at the moment, so it's important I get out there and do the right thing.
"We have an exercise bike at home and I'm lucky to have a trail down the road where I can go for a run.
"In terms of batting, I haven't done too much ball work. I've been throwing a tennis ball off the wall just to maintain that vision of the ball coming at me."
Stepein said being locked away at home had tested him mentally.
"It's tough at times when you can't see your mates,'' he said.
"Hopefully, this is just a speed bump and in four or five weeks time we can see each other properly again."
That catch-up will include a return to Bendigo to his home club White Hills.
After making the move to Carlton as an 18-year-old, Stepien has returned home, when possible, to be the Demons' marquee player in the BDCA T20 competition.
"I always love coming back to White Hills. It's home,'' he said.
"I'm very grateful that White Hills let me come back to play. I love supporting the club that has supported me so much over the years."
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