Hurricanes' rising star's dream journey from the hill to the middle

Take a walk around Hobart's Ninja Stadium and it's likely you'll come across their breakout star Mitch Owen.

Not just if he happens to be training that day with the Hurricanes, or Tasmanian Tigers outside of the Big Bash season, but on the walls too as a "chubby" faced 13-year-old and die-hard member of the Purple Army.

Owen reckons he never missed a Hurricanes home game as a kid and the crowd mural featuring his younger self that's adorned the walls of the Cricket Tasmania offices for the past five years has been an uplifting reminder of his journey from the hill to the middle of Bellerive Oval.

"I've got heaps of great memories of watching the Hurricanes sitting on the hill," the now 23-year-old said ahead of Hobart's home Qualifier against Sydney Sixers on Tuesday night.

"They're some of my fondest memories as a young cricketer – I remember getting a nice photo with Xavier Doherty after he took a hat-trick, and another game Ricky (Ponting) actually gave me his gloves."

Now it's Owen's turn to put the smiles on the fans' faces and he's done just that during a breakthrough KFC BBL|14 campaign that's helped the Hurricanes to the top of the standings and a first home final in five years.

While the allrounder's rise has coincided with his elevation to opening the batting, Owen says the feeling of "being backed" by the coaches, his teammates and the entire organisation has filled him with the confidence to go out and show what he can do.

Owen has played 12 of Tasmania's 17 Sheffield Shield matches since his debut at the start of last season, as well as every One-Day Cup match in the same period, only missing the end of the 2023-24 Shield campaign due to a side strain.

"The last couple of years before getting that opportunity, I felt ready to go and like I needed the opportunity," he told cricket.com.au.

"Now that I've got it, I feel like it's just building consistency and a bit of rhythm game-to-game. So just having that feeling of being backed in has really helped me grow that confidence and go out there and play the way I want to play."

After sporadic appearances for the Hurricanes since his T20 debut in BBL|10, Owen has also played every game in BBL|14, blowing his previous best score of 28 out of the water with an incredible unbeaten 101 against Perth Scorchers in his second match as an opener.

The move to the top, which was foreshadowed by his coaches when he opened in one of Tasmania's pre-season one-dayers against Queensland, has seen him peel off the third-most runs during the BBL|14 regular season (308 striking at 187) and the second-most sixes (22) behind Glenn Maxwell (26).

The right-hander has also opened against the white-ball in all three of Tasmania's completed 50-over matches this summer.

"I've always batted in the top three or four so it's nothing too new to me," he said. "I keep my batting quite simple, and it doesn't change too much where I bat. It's been great fun (opening). I've loved it.

"There was probably a little opportunity there for someone to put their hand up and take that position.

"It started a few months before the BBL, opening in the one-day stuff for Tassie and then getting the opportunity and doing alright early has got me to stay there, so I'm hoping I can make it my own."

In many aspects, as described recently by Hurricanes head coach Jeff Vaughan, Owen is a 'clone' of his more senior Tasmanian teammate and Test newcomer Beau Webster.

Like Webster, Owen grew up south of Hobart in Kingston, although with a population of around 12,000, it's not quite as remote as the community of Snug further along the Channel Highway where his mentor was raised.

Owen also bowled off-spin throughout his junior career until transitioning to medium-pace about six years ago around the time Peter Di Venuto (the brother of current Australia assistant coach Michael) lured him across to Cricket Tasmania Premier League club New Town, an opportunity that led to a 781-run and 18-wicket first grade season and earned him a state contract as a 19-year-old in 2020.

"I felt like I needed another string to my bow (and) my offies were no good to be fair," Owen said.

"I grew, got a bit stronger and thought I might as well use my levers for something and have a crack at bowling … it's a work in progress, I'm still learning."

While he'll happily take any comparison to Webster as a compliment and actively tries to "mirror" a lot of his game, there's also an opportunity to forge his own identity beyond this breakthrough BBL season, with the 31-year-old allrounder away on Test duties in Sri Lanka when the Sheffield Shield restarts next month.

But his immediate focus is delivering the Hurricanes their first men's or women's Big Bash title in the club's history, after which there will also be time to reflect on his "pretty cool" ascension from super fan to their newest star.

"I've come from the hill to the middle; it's very special and I loved every minute of it," Owen said.

"To be able to win the first silverware for the Hurricanes would be amazing. We're very proud to be in this position … to finish on top and lock in this home final.

"Now it's just about taking full advantage of where we are and putting our best foot forward to win."

KFC BBL|14 finals schedule

Qualifier: Hobart Hurricanes v Sydney Sixers, Ninja Stadium (Tuesday, January 21, 7.30pm AEDT)

Knockout: Sydney Thunder v Melbourne Stars, ENGIE Stadum (Wednesday, January 22, 7.30pm AEDT)

Challenger: Loser of Qualifier v winner of Knockout (Friday, January 24, 7.15pm AEDT)

Final: Winner of Qualifier v winner of Challenger (Monday, January 27, 7.15pm AEDT)