Pilbara pace teens Josh Vernon and Mahli Beardman among several new faces in WA Cricket men’s contract list

Raw-but-exciting Pilbara pace duo Mahli Beardman and Josh Vernon - who lived just two doors down from each other growing up - are among the new faces in WA’s men’s squad for the 2023-24 summer. Hailing from Dampier, 1,500km north of Perth, the teenage pair were the major beneficiaries of WA’s expanded squad thanks to seven Cricket Australia-listed players, up from four last season, with both getting rookie contracts in the 31-man squad. It comes after they were picked in Australia’s Under-19s squad last summer in a nod to their enormous fast-bowling talents. “Mahli and Josh both have fantastic stories, coming from the same small town in the State’s far north. They also possess a lot of raw pace and are driven to learn, so we’re excited to see how they progress in the coming years,” WA Cricket’s general manager of high performance Kade Harvey said. “Having seven players contracted by Cricket Australia provided us with the opportunity to build depth within the squad and reward strong performances.” The 18-year-old Vernon, who was still playing for his local club Pegs Creek in the West Pilbara Cricket Association last summer before linking up with Premier Cricket outfit Midland-Guildford, starred against England under-19s earlier this year, with 11 wickets across formats including 1-65 and 4-40 in the four-day Youth Test, 5-69 in the 50-over contest and 1-19 in the Twenty20. Beardman, 17, missed that series through injury, but relished his chance to learn from the most decorated fast bowling division in world cricket, shadowing Australia’s Test side at training and on day one against West Indies at Optus Stadium in December. As reported by The West Australian last week, towering Claremont-Nedlands left-armer Liam Haskett also earned his first deal. Haskett took 21 first-grade wickets at 19.62 last summer on his way to making his second XI debut for WA and coming close to replacing club teammate Joel Paris for the penultimate Sheffield Shield match against Victoria. “Liam has impressed for Claremont-Nedlands over the last two seasons and deserves his chance,” Harvey said. Nine players signed multi-year contract extensions, headlined by a three-year deal for reigning Laurie Sawle medallist Cam Bancroft, after WA claimed back-to-back Sheffield Shield and Marsh One-Day Cup titles to go with Perth Scorchers’ achieving the same feat under coach Adam Voges. Pacemen Joel Paris (three years), Matt Kelly (three) and Jason Behrendorff (two) also tied their futures to WA, as did leader Ashton Turner (two), rising stars Teague Wyllie (three) and Corey Rocchiccioli (two), former NSW seamer Charlie Stobo (two) and young opener Jayden Goodwin (two). Spin-bowling all-rounders Cooper Connolly and Hamish McKenzie were upgraded to the primary list, filling vacancies left by retired the State’s all-time leading run-scorer Shaun Marsh (retired) and speedster David Moody whose contract wasn’t renewed. Veteran seamer Andrew Tye, WA’s all-time leading 50-over wicket-taker, is back on the contract list for the first time since 2019-20 after earning automatic upgrades the past few seasons due to regular Marsh Cup appearances. “It’s pleasing to keep the squad together,” WA coach Voges said. “They’re a tight-knit group who push each other to improve, and the results of the last two seasons are testament to that fact.” WA men’s contract list Cricket Australia: Ashton Agar, Cam Green, Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh, Lance Morris, Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis Full contracts: Cam Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Cooper Connolly, Sam Fanning, Cam Gannon, Aaron Hardie, Liam Haskett, Bryce Jackson, Matt Kelly, Hamish McKenzie, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, D’Arcy Short, Charlie Stobo, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman, Teague Wyllie Rookies: Mahli Beardman, Jayden Goodwin, Sam Greer, Josh Vernon