Wyllie forges his own path in idol's footsteps

Had Teague Wyllie been given the chance to write the script for his first full season of first-class cricket, there's no doubt it would have been a little different to how it transpired.

After hitting his maiden century in the opening game of the season – just his third first-class match – it first would have likely featured a few more runs, and secondly, a plethora of partnerships batting alongside West Australian great Shaun Marsh.

A hero of the teenage batting prodigy, it's no surprise Wyllie has gravitated to Marsh – WA's all-time all-format leading run-scorer – since his ascension to the state squad 12 months ago.

It's therefore with a hint of sadness that the 18-year-old has assumed the No.3 role his idol performed with such grandeur for much of his decorated 22-year career for WA, with Marsh managing just one appearance this season due to various injuries before announcing his retirement from first-class cricket earlier this month.

Wyllie didn't play that match, and as it turns out the young right-hander's first two matches 12 months ago – which included WA's drought-breaking Marsh Sheffield Shield title – remain the only times he's taken the field alongside the veteran run machine.

It's with some comfort then that Wyllie considers himself "quite lucky" to be Marsh's last roommate on an away trip as a player for WA, with the pair bunking together during their match against Tasmania in Hobart last month, which Marsh missed having broken his finger in the preceding match against South Australia.

"He was pretty much one of the coaching staff on that trip and we used to sit down and watch a few TV shows and talk cricket at the end of the night," Wyllie told cricket.com.au's Unplayable Podcast ahead of Thursday's Sheffield Shield final.

"To be able to rub shoulders with him and be like a sponge and soak up as much information as I can off a legend of WA cricket, I was very, very thankful for.

"I only got to play two Shield games with Shaun, my debut and a Shield final, so two games that are pretty special to me and I'm very grateful.

"In 20 or 30 years when we're sitting back and talking about the legend that is Shaun Marsh, I'm very lucky to say that I played a couple games with him, which is a couple more than most other people."

After last year becoming the youngest player to win a Sheffield Shield title, Wyllie this week has a chance to add a second before his 19th birthday.

He'll do so in the batting position occupied by Marsh for most of his career, which WA head coach Adam Voges says he has a chance to make his own "for a long time" like legendary left-hander did over the past decade.

Having started the season at No.5 where he scored that maiden first-class century against NSW last October, Wyllie is happy to bat anywhere an opportunity comes his way.

By his own admission it's been a "challenging" season since that first ton, but it's not through a lack of dedication.

"It's been a bit of an up and down season for him," Voges acknowledges.

"He started with a bang making that hundred in the first Shield game, then has had some challenging periods throughout the summer.

"But he's worked really hard on his craft throughout the season as we would expect him to, and he's got this opportunity now with Shaun retiring … to make the No.3 spot his own for a long period of time.

"We know how incredibly talented he is, he works extremely hard and he'll give himself the best opportunity to go out and perform well."

Wyllie knows it's all happened very fast for him since the Under-19 World Cup last year, and he'll continue stepping through the ranks of Australian cricket: after the Shield final he heads to New Zealand for his first 'A' tour where he'll face the Dukes ball in conditions sought to replicate what Australian batters will face in England.

And having transitioned to the life of a professional athlete before he turned 18, with cricket consuming a large amount of his time before then as well, he's beginning to understand the importance of downtime to take his mind off what is now his day-to-day job.

"Downtime is something I didn't value much until a year or so ago," Wyllie reveals.

"I was working on a farm full-time, I was training full-time, and then I was trying to play a little bit of golf and I was pretty burnt out.

"Leading into this year I thought I've got to try and step away from the game a little bit when I have opportunities.

"So whether that was going out and playing golf or going down to the beach with my dog or seeing the family now that I live up in Perth, they are the things that I've tried to do to get away from the game."

While grinning as he recounts that unfortunately his golf game "isn't getting much better", Wyllie plans to not pick up a bat until July following the two Australia A four-day matches against New Zealand A in Lincoln, before setting himself to make Marsh's former No.3 spot his own next summer.

"I do really enjoy batting three, nearly every game of senior cricket or juniors I've played I've opened the batting, so I love getting up close to the top of the order," he says.

"I get a little bit nervous so the less time I spend waiting the better it is for me.

"The WACA can have its challenges batting up the order with the new ball on a spicy wicket, but once you get through the first 30 or 40 balls, it can be the best place to bat in the world.

"I've played 12 or 13 four-day games this year with still a few more to come … so I'll give myself a nice break so come July and August I'm raring to go for next year."

The Marsh Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast live on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports, as well as live streamed free on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app.