In the last T20 cricket series against Australia, Sri Lanka encountered a special Australian player who was a major factor for Sri Lanka's series loss over Australia. He played three matches and took three wickets for 47 runs off twelve overs conceding only 38 runs and a wide, while delivering 29 balls. According to Louis Cameron in Cricinfo, since March last year, no bowler (minimum 25 overs bowled) has a better economy rate in T20 Internationals than this player. He is 28 year-old Ashton Agar – he was born on October 14, 1993, Melbourne, Victoria.
Sri Lankan origin
However, Agar's speciality lies on the other path. He is a son of a Sri Lankan mother. She is Sonia Hewawissa of Kandy. She emigrated to Australia in 1974 and married Jhon Agar, an Australian citizen. Sonia's father is Nala Hewawissa who played cricket for Dharmaraja College, Kandy. Agar is the eldest son of Sonia, and he also has two brothers.
When this 187cm tall player was first selected for the Australia national side, Sonia took him to a Buddhist temple in Melbourne and gave him a Pirith thread (holy thread) which was obtained from Vijitha Thera. This debut match was the first Test of Ashes series in July, 2013, and Agar wore the Pirith thread throughout the match.
In the second Test also, he wore that Pirith thread. According to Sonia, Ashton Agar is always very proud of his Sri Lankan descent. She brought him up as well as other two sons on her Sri Lankan customs and Buddhist way of life. Because of this, Agar observes Buddhist rituals earnestly. Even, the meals of his family were mostly Sri Lankan meals such as rice and curry. sambol and hoppers are constant foods of the family.
Great skills
Agar was picked up by Australian selectors mainly for his bowling skills. He is a slow-left arm bowler and left hand batter, but with all-rounding performances. During the Sri Lanka T20 series he was promoted to opening pair.
Agar was first called up for the above mentioned Ashes series, which was Michael Clarke's squad. He made this debut an unforgettable one: coming in at No.11, with Australia reeling at 117 for 9, he struck an astonishing 98 - the highest Test score ever by a No.11 - playing strokes that top-order batsmen would be proud of. There, he played with late batsman Phillip Hughes. He was meant to support Hughes. Instead, he made 98 runs with 12 fours and 2 sixes within 134 minutes. Though missed his hundred by a whisker, he didn't let that dampen his mood: he picked up Alastair Cook as his maiden victim, and became the first teenaged Australian spinner to take a Test wicket.
Thereafter, he was dropped from the side because of his poor showing: Australia have lost seven of the last 10 T20Is that Ashton Agar has played. But with T20s, he reemerged as a specialised bowler: he took 5 wickets for 24 runs against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2020, which included a hat-trick, and it is the best figures for Australia in T20Is. He also included in the recent T20 World Cup winning side where he played only one match.
A Perth Scorchers' player
Ashton Agar is from Victoria. He was first chosen for Western Australia when he was 18. Then, he was called up for the 2012 under-19 World Cup squad where he played as second spinner behind Ashton Turner. Next, he became a permanent player of the Perth Scorchers cricket team, and quickly developed as a major player. According to cricket commentators, it was extraordinary that he had a place in the squads of Western Australia, the Perth Scorchers, and also the national team, when he was 19 years of age.
Agar is considered an intelligent young cricketer. He can manoeuvre the team for victory in any difficult situation. He has also aspired to a career in the law, though a degree with Deakin University has been deferred due to his burgeoning cricket commitments.
Career
Although Agar opened the batting for Australia, he is generally the number 11 batsman. However, he has the record of three first-class centuries and average of about 28. So far, he has played 4 Test matches and taken 9 wickets with an economy rate of 2.81. And he has played 15 ODI matches and taken 14 wickets at the economy rate of 5.37. With T20s, he has played 43 T20s and taken 46 wickets at the economy rate of 6.50. In his First Class career, he has taken 154 wickets in 61 matches with a 3.06 economy rate.
When considering his batting performances, in his 4 Tests he has made 195 runs with the average rate of 32.50, including his highest score 98. He has played 15 ODIs so far and made 236 runs with 23.60 average rate. There, his highest score is 46 and strike rate is 86.44. With T20s, he has played 43 matches and collected 277 runs. The highest score of them is 29 and the strike rate is 101.83. He became part of 61 First Class matches and made 2166 runs with 3 centuries and 11 half centuries. There, his highest score was 114* and strike rate was 52.68 while average was 27.76.
He had his ODI debut in 2015 and played his first T20I in the following year. In nearly 10 years of professional T20 cricket, across 92 innings, Agar averages 16.89, strikes at 116.63, and scores a boundary once every 7.97 deliveries (this figure was taken before the final T20I of Sri Lanka series).
Sri Lanka series
In his first T20 International against Sri Lanka, the left-hand batter made 13 off 13, and in the second T20I made 26 off 31 while facing 14 dots after scoring 13 off 13 in Canberra. In the third T20I he made 4 off 2. About this average performance, he said to cricket.com.au. (this was before the 3rd T20I. At the last match he batted at number 8.): "I found it pretty tough actually. Both of their openers bowled quite swiftly, especially when it's around your head. It was tough to get a bit of rhythm."
He gave credit to Dushmantha Chameera and Lahiru Kumara who bowled with extra pace of more than 150kmph. However, his slow batting in the middle was also preplanned. The fellow teammate Marcus Stoinis explained it as this:
"[We said] just go out there and experience the game out there, understand how it feels to be out in the middle at the start of the innings. You don't need to do anything spectacular."
Maxwell's praise
However, Glenn Maxwell highly praised Agar for his bowling performances: "The way he's bowled in this series is no shock to anyone," Maxwell said following Australia's six-wicket win at the MCG. "His control is brilliant. He's working on different deliveries all the time, always looking for a way to get better and it's just a sign of a really good maturing player who's got full hold of his skill at the moment."
Anyway, when hearing Agar's responses to media, it is quite clear that his expectations are much higher than his current performances: "I want to be a cricketer that can be used in any situation of the game," he said. "I've just got to keep working at that."
So, Ashton Agar is a player who may meet Sri Lanka again and again. According to Sonia Hewawissa, she plans to come to Sri Lanka when her son as he has a cricket tour in Sri Lanka. If so, we, sometimes, can see her cheer for the Sri Lankan side, while on the other hand cheering her own son Ashton Agar.