Jackson Barrett: BBL campaign could be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for Jhye Richardson

There has been a growing frustration around the restrictions placed on Jhye Richardson and the paceman’s lack of cricket in recent weeks. ‘Frustration’ is a word that has been uttered more and more around the Perth Scorchers star in the build-up this Big Bash League season. Coaches, teammates and fans are desperate to make sure the best years of Richardson’s career don’t elude him and WA cricket - and Australian cricket. These are meant to be the prime years of a very promising career. It might just be that this summer frenzy of Twenty20 cricket is his time to unleash, with fewer overs to bowl and the chance to take a break from the rigours of red-ball cricket. Richardson’s climb out of a horror injury run has mostly been centred on a short-form return, and while he played one four-day match for WA last month, the Scorchers’ campaign feels like the pot at the end of the rainbow. On Sunday afternoon, he laid down a timely reminder of his class, skill and sheer pace. Bowling above 140km/h an hour, he produced an almost pinpoint opening spell and backed up the masterful first over of veteran teammate Jason Behrendorff. The star new-ball pair had former teammate Joe Clarke in knots before he flashed at a ball and was caught behind. Then Sam Harper lost his cool and tried to flick a ball across the line while Richardson was in full flight. “It’s pretty special to have Jhye back at full-flight, we now how fortunate we are to have him,” Behrendorff told Seven. Figures of 3-19, where he bowled three overs his overs in the powerplay are special numbers. His fourth over was used early when captain Ashton Turner went chasing a breakthrough. Richardson had Beau Webster caught behind to break up the Stars’ final partnership of any promise. He has been managed so tightly across the past two seasons as he bounces between injuries that seeing him unshackled and steaming in is a great relief.