Josh Little: Ireland's record-breaking paceman in top form for T20 World Cup

A leap of joy for Josh Little in The Hundred after taking one of his five wickets against Oval InvinciblesGetty Images

A leap of joy for Josh Little in The Hundred after taking one of his five wickets against Oval Invincibles

By Joe Boaden
BBC Sport

Josh Little has probably had a more varied experience of cricket aged just 22 than most professionals have in their whole career.

Cases of people making their international debuts aged 16 aren't common, but they're not unheard of. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar famously did as much. Having a sibling who achieved the same feat aged three years younger, however, is harder to find.

Little's journey includes being a dual junior international, playing ping-pong with MS Dhoni and most recently achieving the best bowling figures in the history of The Hundred - five wickets at a cost of just 13 runs - for the Manchester Originals in a player-of-the-match performance to take his team to the play-offs.

He first started playing cricket when he was about 11, but only took it seriously at 13. By the age of 16 he would be making his international debut for Ireland, at the time becoming the second-youngest player to appear in a men's T20 international.

Academic commitments then limited his involvement with his national side, but he's nonetheless continued his rapid progression to become an integral part of Ireland's white-ball sides.

Cricket wasn't Little's first passion and he has to thank a childhood friend for his introduction to the sport.

"I used to be a hockey player when I was younger," said Little. "I sort of naturally had decent hand-eye co-ordination.

"One day one of my school friends said 'do you want to give cricket a go? I play at a club quite near to your house. Come down and give it a go'. That's what I did and fell in love with it from there."

Inpho

A 16-year-old Josh Little bowling on his Ireland debut against Hong Kong at Bready six years ago

Little did a lot more than just "play" hockey. He represented Ireland up to Under-16 level and then had to make the decision on which code he was going to pursue.

This summer the Dubliner produced his record-breaking bowling heroics in a must-win match against Oval Invincibles as he featured in a remarkable turnaround for the Originals that saw them go from winless after three matches to within two balls of winning the tournament.

Perhaps Little's sporting endeavours should be unsurprising. His two younger sisters, Hannah and Louise, have both played cricket for Ireland. Josh's ascent to an international debut aged just 16 seems pedestrian relative to his youngest sister Louise, who first represented her country at 13 years and 360 days old.

"You could say we're a pretty big cricket family," added Little. We all watch each other's matches and it's nice to grow up with my siblings all sort of going towards the same path."

Having impressed at international level, Little spent last winter as a net bowler for the Chennai Super Kings - four-time champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), where he rubbed shoulders with legends of the game like of Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo.

"It was the sort of opportunity I couldn't say no to," reflected Little.

"We'd just finished off the World Cup qualifiers for Ireland," from which Little and his country booked their place at the T20 showpiece in Australia starting this month.

On any advice he picked during his stint in India, Little added: "Just little bits and pieces off the field just playing table tennis. During training they were pretty focused on preparing for the games".

The year that Little first encountered cricket - 2010 - Dhoni was leading the Super Kings to their maiden IPL title and was forging his legacy as a great of Indian cricket.

Now Little was helping Dhoni and the franchise he is synonymous with in their pursuit of a record-equalling fifth trophy although they finished in a disappointing ninth place.

BCCI/IPL

Former India skipper MS Dhoni (left) returned as Chennai Super Kings captain in April

The qualities that must have impressed the Super Kings are easy to see and were on full display during his impressive stint in The Hundred. Using high pace to his advantage with the new ball, and intelligently deploying an array of slower balls and yorkers later in the innings.

"People tell me I've got a slightly different action. I've got a bit of a whippy arm," he said.

Little has all the attributes of a successful modern white-ball bowler. It was also a very modern medium through which he first got wind of a call-up to The Hundred - an Instagram DM.

"Phil Salt just sent me a message on Instagram saying, 'I think you're coming to Manchester'. The next day my agent rang me just saying 'I think you're heading over' so it all happened pretty quickly," Little recalls.

Despite only being a mid-tournament replacement, he finished The Hundred as his side's second-highest wicket-taker and has now turned his focus to the T20 World Cup.

Having failed to advance from the first round of last year's tournament, Heinrich Malan's side are out to reach the Super 12 stage and they open their campaign against Zimbabwe in Hobart on Monday.

That game will be followed by a meeting with Scotland two days later before they face the West Indies on 21 October, with the top two from the group of four advancing.

"From an Irish perspective the aim is to get out of the group and get into the main part of the competition," he said.

"Whatever happens outside of that, whatever leagues come my way. I'm not really expecting anything. I hope I can take it in my stride as it comes."

Given the acceleration of Little's career to date, you'd be foolish to rule out a return to the IPL at some point. Next time, however, his sporting endeavours might not be limited to the communal ping-pong table.

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