How improved Sutherland could vault into Aussie calculations

Can Will Sutherland become a genuine all-round option at the international level? Victoria coach Chris Rogers thinks that opportunity might be on the horizon for the 26-year-old.

Sutherland, who captains Victoria at Shield level, has always had enough bowling in his arsenal to present as an international all-round option, and his batting is now catching up.

Featuring for Australia A in a recent white-ball game against India A, Sutherland captained the green and gold while making 77 at No. 7. That followed up his 100 in his first One Day game of the season at No. 6 against Queensland in Brisbane.

Already having two ODI games to his name, Rogers thinks Sutherland could find himself back in national duties sooner rather than later.

“It’s been a good 12 months for Will,” Rogers said on SEN Breakfast.

“I think after the BBL last season, he came back, and he did some work on his batting. He scored a hundred in the Shield in Perth, and from then on, he's been very good.

“He had an excellent T20 series up in Darwin and then followed that up with some good scores for Victoria in some trial games, a hundred in the first One-Dayer against Queensland and 77 for his first Australia A game in India.

“There's been some huge improvement, and you can see the confidence he has just watching him now with the bat. It’s probably a new facet to his game almost.

“That'll give him a lot of confidence, and hopefully he starts to present himself as a genuine all-rounder for Australia.”

Rogers says that the rapid improvement in Sutherland’s batting has come from figuring out his game and a renewed hunger to score big runs.

“I think what happens is when they come in (to First Class cricket), they’re quite confident, and then the game rips them apart a little bit, particularly the batters,” Rogers said.

“Then they get to work. They understand they've got some work to do.

“There were probably a few technical issues for Will that he just needed to tighten up; to get himself into a better position at point of release so he could play the short ball better.

“He's so big and strong that he can get on top of the ball, and he can hit a lot of balls that most people can't reach either. He becomes quite a presence when you're, when you're bowling to him.

“He’s figured out a number of things, and now it's really up to him. I think his game is in a good space. It's how hungry he can be and how many runs he can put on the board.

“I think he knows exactly what’s ahead of him as well, if he can do it well. Let's hope he goes on a run.”

After returning from the tour of India, Sutherland is making his first red-ball domestic appearance of the season on Monday as Victoria face Tasmania in Hobart.