\u201cI basically just came back and wanted to play some cricket for fun on the weekend. I was playing 3rd Grade for my local club University of Queensland, and I was lucky enough to score a few runs that season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended up getting moved into the 2s just after Christmas, and did alright that year. Then, I got a chance in the 1st Grade the following year when Peter Forrest finished up his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never really had the intention of coming back to play cricket professionally, but it\u2019s kind of just worked out that way. I think the biggest thing for me is just enjoying it; I really enjoy playing cricket and I really enjoy batting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my biggest driver … I\u2019m pretty lucky I get to have a hobby as my career. I\u2019m always pinching myself at getting to be able to do that, and live that. It\u2019s a childhood dream, even though I never expected to get here. It\u2019s a pretty cool thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/b400e5d58aa8083d16918f6e51faf113.jpeg\")
A 2015 Westside News feature piece by Brent O’Neill on Clayton as a 16-year-old, still at a time where he juggled both Aussie rules and cricket commitments.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
Watch every ball of Australia vs England T20 & ODI series Live & ad-break free during play on Fox Cricket, available on Kayo Sports | Don\u2019t miss the Summer of the Century. Get 50% off Kayo Premium for 4 months. Min cost $23 for 1 month. New & returning customers only. Offer ends 30 Nov 2026. Sign up today<\/a><\/p>\n Ever since a stunning century on first-class debut for Queensland in February 2022, Clayton has been one of the Bulls\u2019 most reliable figures for close to half a decade.<\/p>\n Naturally during his opening seasons at professional level, his red-ball average floated in the low-to-mid 30s, but it\u2019s since the start of the 2024\/25 Sheffield Shield season that his numbers have become eye-catching.<\/p>\n In those two-and-a-bit seasons, Clayton has hit 1,408 runs at an average of 46.93 \u2014 inclusive of four hundreds and seven fifties.<\/p>\n A lot of his big scores have come at critical times for Queensland too. A second-innings century for the Bulls in the 2024\/25 Shield final against South Australia might be the most defiant knock to date.<\/p>\n But, it\u2019s his most recent 104 against Victoria only days ago that\u2019s poured fuel on the fire for a call-up to the international team.<\/p>\n The left-hander reached stumps on day two at the Gabba on 99 not out, before bringing up triple figures for the seventh time in his first-class career in the opening over of the next morning.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was obviously nice to get the hundred, but it was also an important innings in the game\u2019s situation just to get us to a competitive total in that first innings,\u201d Clayton said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kind of went on a bit further than I expected in the day (due to bad light), because the umpires said they couldn\u2019t bowl pace anymore, so I kind of expected we\u2019d go off when I was on around 90.<\/p>\n \u201cThen, they brought on Ollie Peake to keep spin going, and I got a little bit closer to 100 than I expected late on day two. I got a two off the last ball on the day, and then they called it for light.<\/p>\n \u201cI think if you gave me 99 not out at the start of the day, I\u2019d probably take that! I didn\u2019t sleep overly well (overnight), but I don\u2019t normally sleep too well if I\u2019m in batting.<\/p>\n \u201cParticularly being on 99, I was running through how I was going to get my single or runs the next day. It probably wasn\u2019t in the form of a french cut, but you take them any way you can get them!\u201d<\/p>\n The man standing between Clayton and a potential Test debut this summer could be his own Queensland teammate, Marnus Labuschagne, whose century drought at international level has now stretched to 49 innings.<\/p>\n A quirk with Labuschagne\u2019s possible omission is the vacancy he leaves open at first drop. Having had a chokehold on the position for the best part of seven years, fans have seen very few names roll through the specialist position since the end of last decade \u2014 unlike the revolving door with openers in recent years, and to a lesser extent, in the No.6 position.<\/p>\n Former New South Wales captain Kurtis Patterson and South Australian skipper Nathan McSweeney are among the most experienced specialist No.3 options. But on sheer weight of runs and consistency across the past two seasons, it\u2019s Clayton and Patterson who have the strongest cases.<\/p>\n 4 batters in spotlight to replace Marnus | 19:41<\/p>\n SHEFFIELD SHIELD RECORD SINCE START OF 2024\/25 SEASON While the majority of his batting for Queensland has been done at No.4 and in the middle order, batting at first drop is far from unfamiliar for Clayton. In fact, he\u2019s well and truly excelled in it.<\/p>\n
Jack Clayton: 1,408 runs @ 46.93
Kurtis Patterson: 1,581 runs @ 45.17
Nathan McSweeney: 1,077 runs @ 33.66<\/p>\n