It is not an easy task to master the art of death bowling, but 36-year-old Australian Ben Laughlin has shown his craftsmanship in this area. Laughlin is the fifth round picked player for the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) in 2019, who brings this skillset to the team.
Laughlin is a medium fast bowler who has 137 T20 matches under his belt. He played for the Antigua Hawksbills against the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in 2014, when he made his debut in CPL.
The 2019 CPL season will be the second homecoming with the team, against which he had made his debut back in 2014. On his debut, Laughlin was brilliant with the ball, grabbing 2-27. Known for bowling some accurate off-cutters and to vary his pace with perfection, Laughlin is seen as a canny bowler.
During that 2014 season, playing for Antigua Hawksbills, Laughlin had eight wickets in the eight matches he played. He had a brilliant economy rate of 6.85 and a best bowling figure of 3-7, which was a “player-of-the- match” performance against Trinbago Knight Riders (formerly Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel).
This intelligent cricketer has been a seasoned campaigner; playing in the Big Bash in Australia, playing the T20 League in Bangladesh, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and the Indian Premier League (IPL). In his 137 T20 matches, Laughlin has 167 wickets at an average of 22.7. He has two five-wicket hauls, including a best bowling figure of 6-28 in the shortest format bowling the important overs at the death at an economy rate of 7.96.
Laughlin has played five One Day Internationals since 2009, and has three T20 Internationals to his name when he last played in 2013 for Australia. Since his being overlooked for play in the Australian team, Laughlin has made great strides around T20 leagues globally.
Laughlin featured in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, from where he gained tremendous knowledge and developed his game. With the ability of bowling those Yorkers and mixing up deliveries, Laughlin is the perfect death bowler for the GAW. His experience will play a great role in the Hero CPL 2019 when he puts on the armory of the GAW. (Brandon Corlette)
