Sign up now ><\/a><\/p>\nWill Salzmann of New South Wales. Photo by Bradley Kanaris\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Salzmann, a Campbelltown junior that now represents Sydney University, was Australia\u2019s leading wicket-taker at the 2022 Under-19 World Cup with 12 scalps at 19.41, soon after earning a rookie contract with Cricket NSW. The seamer made his state debut later that year before taking 4-48 in a one-day contest against reigning champions Western Australia in 2023, a breakout performance for the all-rounder.<\/p>\n
With just three List A matches under his belt, an 18-year-old Salzmann was a surprise nomination for the 2023 Indian Premier League Auction, ultimately going unsold.<\/p>\n
Just as he was starting to establish himself in the Blues\u2019 first-choice one-day team, having taken 16 List A wickets at 17.56, Salzmann suffered an ankle injury in 2024 that forced him to the sidelines.<\/p>\n
But with every setback comes opportunity \u2013 Salzmann spent a large chunk of the 2024\/25 season focusing on his batting with the assistance of childhood coach Neil D\u2019Costa, famous for mentoring the likes of Michael Clarke, Phillip Hughes and Marnus Labuschagne.<\/p>\n
And while D\u2019Costa has helped develop his batting technique, Salzmann credits him for strengthening the mental side of the game as well. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t care about (representing) NSW or Australia or anything like that. He\u2019s in it for me. He\u2019s in my corner,\u201d Salzmann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery session I\u2019ve walked away from him, I\u2019ve believed that I\u2019m a better cricketer than what I was before the session.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as he\u2019s helped with what everyone can see, and that\u2019s the technique side, I think he\u2019s also helped behind the scenes with building belief in my own game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Salzmann of New South Wales. Photo by Mike Owen\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Salzmann started his 2025\/26 summer with a century during a warm-up match against Victoria before making his first-class debut in October, a Sheffield Shield clash against Western Australia on a tricky WACA deck.<\/p>\n
All eyes were on incumbent Test opener Sam Konstas ahead of the Ashes campaign, but Salzmann stole the show by top-scoring in both innings with 43 and 72 while batting at No. 7, named player of the match after the low-scoring affair. Former Australian spinner Kerry O\u2019Keeffe compared him to the legendary Steve Waugh after the eye-catching performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe lines the ball up well, he makes really good decisions,\u201d Blues teammate Kurtis Patterson said of Salzmann.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a good sound technique. Our first game in Perth on that diabolical wicket, he was the best player out of the 22 blokes that played that game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later that month, NSW coach Greg Shipperd floated the idea of elevating Salzmann to opener, a role he hadn\u2019t fulfilled in a red-ball match since he was a child. He had never previously batted higher than No.7 for his state, although he had opened in a handful of one-day games for Sydney University.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did catch me off guard,\u201d Salzmann recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it was raised to me, it was something that I jumped at. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was obviously going to be a new challenge and something that I haven\u2019t faced before, but I think they gave me a lot of belief in my ability. That gave me a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The promotion proved a masterstroke; facing the new ball during October\u2019s drawn Sheffield Shield match against Queensland at the Gabba, Salzmann cracked 65 and 31 not out to prove his credentials as a first-class opener.<\/p>\n
Albeit a small sample size, he was outperforming many of the nation\u2019s Sheffield Shield openers ahead of the Ashes, including Konstas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed opening the batting,\u201d Salzmann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed going out with the scores even and I can play my way from ball one.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt obviously wasn\u2019t what I expected, but I\u2019ve just relished it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With just three first-class matches to his name, Salzmann was suddenly being touted as a candidate to replace veteran opener Usman Khawaja in the Test side, courtesy of his knack for scoring runs in challenging conditions.<\/p>\n
He admits he could have handled the media attention better than he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith all that was going on and that build-up to the Ashes, I was maybe putting a bit too much pressure or expectation on myself,\u201d Salzmann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019ve learned now that you can\u2019t predict what\u2019s going to happen when you go out on the field. You can get injured or you can have a really good day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ve developed a better way of handling that sort of stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Salzmann of New South Wales after receiving his debut cap. Photo by James Worsfold\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
On day one of November\u2019s Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the SCG, Salzmann tore his left hamstring while sliding in the outfield, ruling him out of the remainder of the match. He became just the second player in the competition\u2019s history to need an injury replacement.<\/p>\n
It was a shattering setback for the youngster.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat day is fresh in my mind at the moment,\u201d Salzmann recalled, adding he had written about the ordeal in his journal earlier that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that was the last thing we wanted to happen, and it was the worst-case scenario.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a really tough pill to swallow \u2026 it was obviously a very emotional week for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
A few days later it was decided that Salzmann would need to undergo surgery, ruling him out of the entirety of the Big Bash season. Three years after signing his maiden BBL contract with the Sydney Thunder, he\u2019s still waiting for a professional T20 debut.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Big Bash for me has been very elusive for the last three years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have spent the last three years watching from the dugout, being held back with injury.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the two-month recovery, Salzmann became obsessed with Matthew McConaughey\u2019s bestseller Greenlights, which included passages from diaries and journals he\u2019s been writing since he was 14 \u2013 no wonder the book resonated with him.<\/p>\n
Although Salzmann has been named in the Blues\u2019 12-player squad for this week\u2019s Sheffield Shield match against reigning champions South Australia at the SCG, he will only be available as a specialist batter, with no plans to return to bowling until next summer. The risk of reaggravating the injury while trying to get his bowling up to scratch was just too high.<\/p>\n
However, he remains fully committed to contributing as an all-rounder next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything happens for a reason. I know that can be a bit of a clich\u00e9, but I really try to stand by that,\u201d Salzmann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a good opportunity to get a decent load of cricket in just as a batsman to finish this year and then really get over the injury without having to deal with the bowling load.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to bowl as well, but I\u2019m pretty happy just to bide my time, rebuild and get a clean run into next year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Salzmann is expected to open alongside Konstas at the SCG this week, while his Sheffield Shield return has come at an exciting time. Khawaja has retired from international cricket, while Test opener Jake Weatherald is at risk of losing his spot in the national side after a lean Ashes campaign, meaning there could be a vacancy at the top of the order next summer.<\/p>\n
Konstas, Matthew Renshaw and Campbell Kellaway are some of the leading candidates to replace Weatherald if a change was required, but Salzmann acknowledged there\u2019s an opportunity over the coming weeks to once again thrust himself into the national conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling almost re-energised, refreshed, almost like I\u2019ve just had another pre-season going into the back half of this year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also don\u2019t think it\u2019s a bad time within Australian cricket to be an opening batsman, so I just take it as it comes and really lock in to try and make the most of the next two months of cricket.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can do is just focus on performing for New South Wales, winning career games for them, and I can sort of take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will Salzmann of New South Wales. Photo by James Worsfold\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
One of the biggest challenges Salzmann faces next summer will be keeping himself fit and firing while juggling the immense workloads of being a three-format all-rounder. While motivated to keep improving his cricket, he acknowledged that he\u2019ll need to learn to listen to his body and rest when required.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of my injuries have probably come about through overuse and pushing my body more and training hard, which is part of who I am,\u201d Salzmann explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just understanding when to turn the dial on sessions or to do that extra session, and then when to also give my body rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fortunate that cricket\u2019s an older person\u2019s game. I\u2019m not too stressed that I\u2019m missing out on opportunities because of injury at this age. I\u2019m building my game and building my body even now for a few years\u2019 time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eventually, Salzmann will be tasked with choosing between two paths \u2013 committing to the all-rounder route for the added X-factor or focusing on his batting and becoming a specialist opener. Shane Watson flourished in the Test arena after choosing the latter, while Cameron Green\u2019s recent injury plights demonstrate the difficulty of the former.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing an all-rounder\u2019s hard,\u201d Salzmann said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been very few of them in the game, and that shows how hard it is.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s something that I\u2019m building towards, and I\u2019m not expecting to nail it or to be able to cope with that workload as a 22-year-old.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patterson, who will play his 100th Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales at the SCG this week, confessed he didn\u2019t know whether Salzmann had the makings of a long-term red-ball opener.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s absolutely good enough at the moment to do it,\u201d he told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a genuine all-rounder. He burst onto the scene in one-day cricket maybe two seasons ago, bowling late 130s, early 140s in white-ball cricket and he\u2019s one of our most important players during that period.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt depends on what he wants out of his career. Does he want to go down the opening batter route? It makes sense with Usman retiring at the moment. There\u2019s probably an opportunity for him there.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr does he want to be an all-rounder who can offer a bit of the ball too? I don\u2019t know where Will\u2019s at with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s probably more a decision for him about where he wants to play his cricket and how he wants to set his career up.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sheffield Shield match between NSW and South Australia gets underway at the SCG on Thursday at 10.30am AEDT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the best essay he\u2019s ever written. Will Salzmann\u2019s fierce dedication to cricket was apparent during his late…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-459864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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