Haztoglou embraces 'obscurity' as blueprint for global success

As the proliferation of T20 cricket continues across the world, so has the art of leg-spin bowling.

But with it has come with the blurring of lines between what is considered a classical leg-break bowler and what is not.

Who's to say a slower, looping, turning leg-break made cool by Shane Warne is any more classical than the flatter, quicker variety that's proved so successful for Rashid Khan, and greats such as Anil Kumble before him?

For Peter Hatzoglou, he can remember the exact moment that he realised the latter was more his go.

It was at club training with Premier Cricket outfit Melbourne University before his meteoric rise to BBL cult hero that his mentor and teammate Fawad Ahmed pulled him aside.

"I'd bowled a ball and I walked back, and he was like 'Peter, I think as a blueprint for you, you should just pitch the ball on fourth stump, let your natural angle take it into off stump and hopefully you get guys out doing that'," Hatzoglou recalls.

"Even up until that point, I still thought of myself as that classical leg-spin bowler.

"But that little moment with Fawad in the nets of Melbourne Uni helped me realise that I wasn't quite as conventional as what I thought."

It proved to be the validation that Hatzoglou needed as he learned to embrace the rest of his "idiosyncrasies and getup", such as spinning the ball to himself relentlessly in his approach, that has made him such a likeable character of the Big Bash.

"If I was a conventional style of leg-spin, I wouldn't be a professional cricketer right now," he tells cricket.com.au's Unplayable Podcast ahead of the KFC BBL|12 Final.

"Because I embraced the differences in my bowling and the obscurity in my bowling, I was able to accelerate up the grades of Premier Cricket really quickly and I guess I've had a little bit of success in the Big Bash and other competitions because of my obscurity."

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It's those idiosyncrasies that Hatzoglou hopes will make him an attractive option for tomorrow's BBL|12 Final against the Brisbane Heat.

Having made his debut on the global circuit last year with a late-season cameo in the Hundred for the Oval Invincibles, and then a stint in the Abu Dhabi T10 competition, the 24-year-old former data analyst suddenly found himself out of the Perth Scorchers side for their opening match of the season despite playing a key role in their BBL|11 championship.

It's a theme that has continued throughout the summer – he's played all bar one of the Scorchers away matches but only half of their home games and has gone wicketless at Perth Stadium so far in BBL|12 – where tomorrow's decider will be played.

And it's not as if he's bowled badly this tournament either, collecting eight wickets in 10 appearances with an excellent economy rate of 7.49, including 3-14 against the Strikers in his last full match (he replaced Matthew Kelly as a concussion substitute during their last regular season fixture).

Skipper Ashton Turner believes Hatzoglou is "someone who should be playing at this level" with his proven record of winning games for the Scorchers in the past, but it remains to be seen if they can fit him in their side on Saturday.

He's currently locked in a battle with seamer Kelly for the final spot in the Perth Scorchers XI for the decider following Lance Morris' departure with the Australian squad for the four-Test Qantas Tour of India.

Despite Perth Stadium's tendencies to favour the faster bowlers, Hatzoglou insists it's still a surface where he can be effective.

"Missing out is always pretty grim, there's no hiding from that," he says. "I hate it, every player hates it.

"I guess that's reflective of the depth in our squad and the talent in our squad.

"I'm definitely confident in my ability to perform at the Big Bash level, it's just the Scorchers are a pretty strong team.

"All I'm really focused on is trying to develop my game while I'm here with … the quality coaching staff and if I'm constantly looking to improve and develop my game, a lot of that (selection) stuff takes care of itself naturally.

Image Id: 1FFDA2B1D01440819FEE1EF4A41F0EDB Image Caption: Hatzoglou takes a 'selfie' with AJ Tye ahead of the BBL|12 Final // Getty

"(Perth Stadium), it's a place I've enjoyed bowling (as it's) so unique.

"It takes a little while to figure it out. I enjoy it for the crowd too … the acoustics there are so phenomenal.

"When you're in the middle of it all, it's a really surreal experience where you're getting the noise from all angles and it just traps it in the middle, so the volume is pretty incredible."

That hunger to do well in Perth is perhaps something he gets from his mentor Fawad, who also enjoyed bowling there with 11 wickets in 12 matches but with an exceptional economy rate of 6.62 and a dot ball percentage of 38.

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Hatzoglou has only ever had one private coaching session and that was with Fawad.

He was a teenager running around in the Victorian Turf Cricket Association for Sunshine Heights, and the Pakistan-born Australia leggie was still plying his trade at Hoppers Crossing Cricket Club in the same competition yet to be picked up by the Renegades and Victoria.

"The one memory I've got of that one-on-one session I had with him was that he could spin the ball from way down the leg side to off the pitch on the off side," Hatzoglou recalls.

They would later become teammates at Melbourne Uni as the young prodigy chartered a similar Big Bash journey to his mentor, starring for the Renegades with 17 wickets in BBL|10 before replacing his mentor at the Scorchers ahead of BBL|11.

So when the suggestion from him came to pursue the quicker variety of leg-spinners and let his natural angle do the work, the student needed no convincing.

"Fawad's like the master and I'm the apprentice in many ways," Hatzoglou says.

"He's got an incredible read on the game, on different bowlers and different players.

"He sees things in my bowling if I've been away at different competitions for a while, it's always nice to reconnect with Fawad at the Melbourne Uni nets or wherever and he really tells me what's going on.

"He has been an incredible mentor for me (and) a great coach for me over a long period of time now."

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Having quit his day job at KPMG last April, Hatzoglou is all in on his T20 career.

While he's continued studying doing his CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) accreditation, he says the corporate world will always be there to come back to after his cricket career is finished.

Image Id: CB26BC895FAD404DBA3DA527791AA449 Image Caption: Hatzoglou runs into bowl in BBL|12 with his unique approach // Getty

He went to England last winter to play club cricket after an opportunity with the London Spirit fell through just so he could be in the country and ready to go should another Hundred or T20 Blast team require a replacement player.

It was a move that ultimately paid dividends with two appearances for the Invincibles in late August.

He says he'll do the same again this year, and he also has an eye on the new Major League Cricket tournament expected to kick off on the United States in July.

"Hopefully I can push into some of those other T20 competitions around the world," says Hatzoglou, noting that he's come close to being picked up in the Pakistan Super League draft in previous seasons.

"I know there's a T20 World Cup in the Caribbean in a few years' time, it'd be lovely to be on that tour alongside guys like Ashton Agar who I've loved being with here at the Scorchers."

And should he secure an opportunity somewhere, Hatzoglou hopes that obscurity will continue to give him an edge over opposition batters.

"I love the way I bowl," he says.

"I take a lot of confidence out of my obscurity in that whenever I'm playing in these new leagues around the world it takes people quite a while to get used to my style of bowling.

"So I can get away with bad balls almost, I can get away with a lot more than if I was more conventional I wouldn't be able to.

"That gives me a lot of confidence whenever I'm coming up against someone new who hasn't seen me before."

As for the Scorchers, his two-year deal comes to an end following tomorrow night's BBL|12 decider but Hatzoglou says he's loved his time in Perth and those contract conversations will happen at the end of the season.

"I've got a real thirst to continue developing my game and not only on spin friendly wickets, but also on seam friendly wickets as well," he says.

Scorchers squad for the BBL|12 Final: Ashton Turner (c), Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Cooper Connolly, Stephen Eskinazi (England), Aaron Hardie, Peter Hatzoglou, Nick Hobson, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, David Payne (England), Chris Sabburg, Charlie Stobo, Andrew Tye