Taste of fame leaves Edwards hungry

After 15 minutes – or in his case 15 overs – of fame in last summer’s New Year’s Test, Mickey Edwards is determined to wear the Baggy Green cap once again, only next time as part of the playing XI. 

Edwards, the lanky quick with a mop of blond hair, shot to cult hero status last year when he stepped onto the Sydney Cricket Ground as a substitute fielder as cover for vice-captain David Warner. 

The heaving crowd of 17,583 on day five immediately took to the youngster, roaring with applause every time he touched the ball or was in close proximity of it.

"That day, if anything, spurred me on and reaffirmed that dream in my head that I do want to play Test cricket and get there one day, because that was such a cool day," Edwards told reporters in Sydney today.

The 22-year-old right-arm quick will take his first step towards that Baggy Green dream this month after he was named in NSW’s 14-man JLT One-Day Cup squad.

Standing at 198cm, the Manly-Warringah Cricket Club product will add some serious height to a fast-bowling attack which includes former internationals Doug Bollinger, Gurinder Sandhu and Sean Abbott.

Like all fast bowlers, Edwards has had his fair share of back injuries, but is now fit and firing and ready to make his state debut.

"Pretty unexpected actually," Edwards said when asked about the call-up. "I went up to Brisbane (for pre-season training) thinking it was just to get workloads in, so to get picked is a real surprise but (I’m) pretty stoked to be where I am right now.

"The last two-and-a-half years has been just mainly rehab from stress fractures. 

"To get to this point is pretty exciting, it feels like a long time in the making."

Fortunately for Edwards he has some high-profile teammates to lean on when it comes to the art of fast bowling and recovering from injury.

Test pacemen Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all hail from NSW and Edwards has been a sponge around the trio whenever they return to Moore Park on domestic duties.

"When they (Starc and Hazlewood) are around it’s just good to pick their brain," he said. 

"The one thing I talk about with Josh is lengths. We could talk about that for hours on end. 

"They’ve been really good to me. 

"Starcy lives around the corner from me in Curl Curl so it’s good to have them close by and when they’re at training.

"(Cummins) has been through a lot of the same things I’ve been through," he added. 

"So talking about what he’s changed and how he goes about his rehab and the way he starts bowling again and ramps it up and gets to full pace. 

"He’s one of the best at rehab so to get some info from him in that area is very helpful."

NSW fly to Perth next week for their opening JLT One-Day Cup match against Western Australia at the WACA Ground on September 29.