the fastest double-century recorded in Sheffield Shield history,<\/a> while ending a 964-day wait for a double hundred in Australia\u2019s four-day first-class format.<\/p>\n\u201cIt was pretty surreal. It was my first time opening in Sheffield Shield and second time ever in red-ball cricket, so I wasn\u2019t sure how I wanted to go about it,\u201d Davies said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m naturally a pretty aggressive player that likes to move the game forward. Part of me was like: \u2018I\u2019ll have a look for 20-30 balls and get into my innings\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut, after facing the first over, I was like: \u2018The field\u2019s up, I\u2019m just going to try and pile in and get as many as I can, as quick as I can!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Davies snaps NSW drought with 253 | 07:40<\/p>\n
Davies celebrates his incredible double ton at Cricket Central in Sydney, New South Wales.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
But while Davies made batting look remarkably easy against Tasmania, the road back to the New South Wales side had been anything but.<\/p>\n
Less than a year earlier, the talented right-hander found himself at one of the lowest points of his young career, dropped from both state sides and struggling to rediscover the enjoyment that had long accompanied his talent.<\/p>\n
A return of 123 runs at an average of just 13.66 saw the 26-year-old dropped after five Shield games, while his spot in the 50-over side lasted just two matches.<\/p>\n
\ufeff\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie, it was probably a pretty dark time. All through my junior cricket, and even the start of my professional career, I\u2019ve always scored runs … if I had a couple of bad games, I\u2019d always bounce back,\u201d Davies said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a shocking start to the year, got dropped from the one-day team after the second game. Then, five games into the year I got dropped from the Shield team. I knew it was coming as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played a game against Tasmania at Cricket Central last year, and I got out for a duck (first innings), then fielded 150 overs in the dirt, and then nicked off for five. I was walking off the field and I knew my fate.<\/p>\n
Davies walks off in what ended up being his final Shield innings for the 2025\/26 season \u2014 caught behind off the bowling of Jackson Bird (right) for two.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was pretty depressing in that sense. I wasn\u2019t really enjoying cricket; I just felt a lot of pressure. I went back to grade cricket for Manly after that for the back end of the season, and was playing with some of my good mates again. I was just absolutely loving it again \u2014 there was no pressure to score runs, and it kind of allowed me to score runs. <\/p>\n
\u201cI found a bit of love for cricket again; playing on a Saturday and then going out for a couple of beers with some of the lads afterwards. It was definitely an interesting six to 12 months. I didn\u2019t play much Big Bash for the Thunder either \u2014 I played one game for them.<\/p>\n
Ironically, it was Ollie\u2019s omission that opened the door for younger brother Joel to make his long-awaited Sheffield Shield debut for New South Wales last December, providing a bittersweet family subplot to an otherwise difficult period.<\/p>\n
It meant that while Davies was rediscovering his love for cricket away from the professional spotlight, his younger brother\u2019s contrasting fortunes created an unusual dynamic between the two \u201cbest mates\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe basically came in and took my spot. When that happened, he just went straight through the roof and playing T20 cricket for Australia recently, and I was back playing grade cricket for Manly,\u201d Davies explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile he\u2019s my brother and my best mate, he probably wasn\u2019t the best person to lean on because we were going in completely opposite directions. My Dad as well (I leant on); he\u2019s always there to have a chat. Nothing\u2019s ever too serious … he just loves watching me play cricket. He doesn\u2019t care if I\u2019m scoring runs, he just wants me to be happy and enjoy my cricket.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy Dad and Nick Larkin (former NSW Cricket batting lead) were the two big ones for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joel Davies (left) after being presented his debut cap by Ollie on his Sheffield Shield debut against Queensland at the SCG, on December 5, 2025.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Amid the tough patch, Davies also found himself contemplating a move away from New South Wales, despite the state\u2019s desire to retain him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a conversation with Greg Mail (NSW Chief Performance Officer) … after I got dropped from the Shield team, we had a chat. He said: \u2018We want to sign you for another few years, and we want you to stay in Sydney\u2019,\u201d Davies added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had some interest shown from other Big Bash teams … he (Mail) shot me a text after the game the other day saying \u2018congratulations on the runs\u2019, and I just texted back saying: \u2018Thanks so much for backing me in and having faith in me\u2019. <\/p>\n
\u201cI love New South Wales, and I love living in Curl Curl on the northern beaches. I\u2019d never really want to move, but it definitely was something, because everyone else was excelling and I was just going downhill. I was like: \u2018Maybe a change of scenery could be good for me\u2019, but I think with Brad Haddin and some of the new coaching staff this year, it\u2019s given me a fresh start. Something I needed personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
To watch Ollie Davies\u2019 full chat on Fox Cricket\u2019s Domesticated, click here!<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not so long ago, Ollie Davies was back playing grade cricket for Manly, wondering whether a change of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":928546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-928545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928545","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=928545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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