Australia in Sri Lanka: Cooper Connolly’s father Shane reveals emotional moment he found out son would debut

Cooper Connolly’s emotional father Shane has revealed how close the West Australian came to debuting in the first Test of the series against Sri Lanka. And he has also shared the moment his 21-year-old son told him his Test dream would come true. Australian coach Andrew McDonald and captain Steve Smith said they would wait until the first morning of the match to make a final call on their side, but Connolly was told he would debut by selector-on-duty Tony Dodemaide on Wednesday night. A message from Connolly to his parents Shane and Donna read: “cap 471”. They were heading into a meeting so he just sent us a message that said ‘cap 471’ and then he phoned us about an hour later and said ‘I’m in’,” his father Shane told The West Australian. “Tony Dodemaide went up to his room before the meeting and told him he was in. “For us, it’s just excitement, for him it’s like a dream come true. He was just over the moon when he phoned us. “The wife was in tears, I had a few tears I had to hold back. “As a crusty old cricketer, you dream of donning the baggy green, but to see your son do it is just amazing.” Connolly made his debut in a switch for Todd Murphy to extend Australia’s batting order after their emphatic victory in the first Test. He has played just four first-class matches and is yet to take a wicket in red-ball cricket, travelling to the island nation with little expectations of earning a cap. But selectors seriously considered playing him in last week’s first match. “I know he was in the 12 for the first Test and he phoned us and said ‘it was a big discussion and I almost made it’, but even after that I thought they had won a Test and they played pretty well,” Shane said. “I spoke to a few friends about potentially they could go for more batting, but we still didn’t expect him to play and I don’t think he was that confident. “But he said he trained well, did all the right things. I don’t think they gave him any inkling as to what they were doing.” West Australian great Simon Katich handed Connolly his baggy green, telling him “how important the cap was”. Katich also said a bond with Richie Benaud — the leg-spinning and broadcasting legend who presented his cap — had lasted his entire career and vowed to do the same for Connolly.