Spreadsheets & sea breeze: Corey puts new spin on WACA

It's been a pace paradise for decades, but Corey Rocchiccioli is turning the WACA Ground into his own spin haven as he sets his sights on a third Marsh Sheffield Shield crown in just his third season.

Rocchiccioli can be forgiven for not having a complete historical overview of West Australian spinners for one simple reason – until the age of 20, he wasn't one. Yet his meticulous dedication to his now primary craft has the off-spinner on the verge of adding his name to that particular chapter of the record books.

The 26-year-old entered this week's sudden-death final-round clash with Victoria as the competition's leading spinner for the second consecutive season (following his 25 wickets at 32.20 in 2022-23).

But it's his 37 wickets at 30.21 from his nine matches so far this Shield season that have put the once top-order batter in territory uncharted by a West Australian tweaker for more than four decades.

Not since Bruce Yardley in 1982-83 (39 at 24.33) has a WA spinner taken more wickets in a campaign than Rocchiccioli has managed in 2023-24, and if he can add another three this week against the Vics he'll become just the state's third slow bowler to claim 40 in single Shield season.

To do so he's had to defy the WACA's perceived seam-friendliness, mastering those same favourable characteristics the quicks enjoy in becoming the venue's most prolific bowler – pace or spin – since his first game there in March 2022 (42 wickets at 25.36).

In his five matches there this season, Rocchiccioli has claimed 30 per cent of his team's wickets (28 of 91) as he takes advantage of curator Isaac McDonald's rekindled love for a "green seamer" and the subsequent raised moisture levels in the surface.

"The two things that I love most are the bounce and the sea breeze; the 'Freo Doctor' as the people in the east like to call it," Rocchiccioli told cricket.com.au after his hauls of 4-54 and 4-109 in WA's 146-run win over the Bulls at the venue helped his state jump Victoria into second spot ahead of the final home-and-away fixture of the season.

"Essentially that just adds a little bit more to what I'm trying to do, to get the ball to drift across the right-hander and into the lefty.

"And then the bounce that I've been getting, it's been a hell of a lot of fun.

"I like to bowl with my fingers behind the back of the ball and that's just the nature of growing up in Western Australia. We don't get a hell of a lot of spin … it was all about what I could do on the back of the ball.

"I just try and think about beating the batter in the air, so whether that's with the sea breeze or putting the revs on the ball (so) the bounce happens, that's the fundamentals that I'm working towards at the WACA."

Those two weapons were on full display last Monday, ripping through the Queensland line-up in the second innings with three dismissals caught at first slip and his fourth bowled as he claimed eight wickets in a match for the second time of his career.

The scalp of Jack Wildermuth nine runs short of his century to break the game open on the final day demonstrated Rocchiccioli's pre-game commitment to his planning, and his studious adaptability of those plans in-game.

Having operated over-the-wicket to the right-handers for much of his first 28 overs in the innings, he switched to around to deceive the set batter in the air as Wildermuth prodded at a delivery sliding across him, the ball catching the edge on its way through to Cameron Gannon at slip.

"I was trying to bowl the ball on the stumps – at the WACA if you miss (the stumps), it's four," Rocchiccioli said. "I came across to be a little bit more defensive, but I know at the WACA when you're defensive, you're also attacking at the same time.

"I was just mixing my angles and trying new things.

"I went to India during the off-season (to the MRF Academy for a 10-day training camp) and I started taking more notes and pushed (WA assistant coach) Beau Casson to help me understand what I needed to do to look at the footage.

"So now I spend a fair bit of time each week going into games watching the opposition, watching what they're doing, and that gives me a nice opportunity to build some plans.

"The next pillar of that has been learning how to adapt in game and learn to bring out what's required at certain times.

"I feel like I was able to put that together in a whole two innings in the game (against Queensland) and I was able to adapt and grow my plans between the first and second innings."

With a sport science degree under his belt before he was contracted by WA in 2020, as well as a Diploma of Business and a Diploma of Leadership and Management, Rocchiccioli is also part-way through a Master of Business Administration at the University of Western Australia.

And he's brought that same dedication to his studies into his cricket.

Across his four seasons in the state system, he's compiled an Excel spreadsheet with notes on each player and his review of each game, which even extends to batters he's come up against in Second XI and first grade for his Premier Cricket club University.

"I use that to formulate more and more plans to be able to combat the best batters in the country," Rocchiccioli said. "Because once you're around for a year, everyone knows what you're going to do, and you've got to try and find weaknesses in every other batter.

"(Like) 'Gaz' (Nathan Lyon) has been talking about setting up to Kane Williamson lately.

"When I go back and play first grade, I try and be as consistent as possible.

"I don't want to waste games of cricket and I enjoy playing first grade and I want to compete as much as I do when I'm playing first-class cricket.

"Leading into (a first grade) game I'll try and get the Frog Box (vision) up from the week before and see what those players are doing – the more you look at footage, the more you pick things out.

"The more the year's gone on, I've been able to understand and find the trends in each batter's game and I think that's been the biggest growth other than just the technical aspect that I work really hard on.

"It feels like … you've studied for the assignment or the test and then you go out and do the test and you don't have to cram too much."

It was at University, after switching from his previous Premier club Wanneroo, where Rocchiccioli developed into a frontline spinner under the guidance of former Australia and WA left-armer Tom Hogan and current bowler of the same variety, Ashton Agar.

He arrived at the beginning of the 2017-18 summer as a young top-order batter who dabbled in some part-time off-spin and had grown up idolising the likes Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke.

"Beau Casson and John Inverarity (another former Australia and WA left-arm spinner), always get stuck into me that I don't know the important spinners that have been around," Rocchiccioli laughs.

"But as a young kid I idolised 'Gilly' (Gilchrist), 'Huss' (Hussey) and Michael Clarke more than I probably did the Nathan Lyons of the world.

"I didn't really grow up with too many spinners at the WACA. You know WA for all the fast bowlers. That was just the nature of being a batter when I grew up and had the spin on the side."

But as a 20-year-old at a new club who "just wanted to get better at cricket" and play first grade, the fact University had a spin coach in Hogan excited Rocchiccioli.

"I asked 'Hoges' so many questions and that sort of started my development," he said.

"That first year I made big, big strides in learning the foundations I needed to be a successful spin bowler.

"He had an awesome career himself (seven Tests, 80 first-class matches) … and he was the fundamental driver of what my spin bowling turned out to be. He got me into the pathway systems at the WACA through Second XI and a strong couple of years in grade cricket.

"Getting into the system, Beau Casson has been the next driver of my development, so I don't know where I'd be without them in terms of the technical knowledge because I think my action is far better than what it was four years ago."

And as each season passes, Rocchiccioli's role continues to grow; in 2022-23 he bowled 254.3 overs, and this summer that has jumped to 378 so far.

"I'm lucky that the captain 'Whitey' (Sam Whiteman) and 'V' (head coach Adam Voges) have given a lot of respect to what I've been doing and let me do my thing, which has been cool," Rocchiccioli said.

"Once I got the trust and respect around the group and I was able to play more games, it's really nice knowing that you're going to play Shield cricket and you're not going to get dropped the week after and your (place) isn't on the line.

"From there I've been given more and more opportunity and I've had some really big roles this year, which I've been lapping up and loving it; I want the ball in my hand all the time.

"I'm convincing 'Whitey' that I want to open the bowling at the WACA at some stage because I just love it so much. It's been great to have the evolution of bowling five to 10 overs an innings to bowling 30."

And the evolution of his skillset will be crucial this week as he faces off against Victoria for the seventh time in his 24-game first-class career, with a chance to play in another Sheffield Shield final on the line (the winner will go through to play Tasmania from March 21-25).

Rocchiccioli knows he has come into the state squad at a special time, and nor is it lost on him the tough times his WA predecessors went through "in the 2010s – while I was still at high school".

"I would certainly know what it's going to mean to the state and to the playing group if we were able to get a third look at it," he added.

"The important part is ticking off what we can do this week. If we're lucky enough to do that, I think it's a special opportunity to write our names in the history books and build a legacy piece."

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points