Cameron Boyce

Ashley Mallett, the former Test offspinner and respected coach, has watched closely the progress of Queensland legspinner Cameron Boyce. In 2007-08, he declared Boyce "the best spinner in Australia not in first-class cricket". Then, in 2011-12, Mallett said Boyce was "the best leggie I've seen in first-class cricket since Warne". It was high praise indeed. One of the greatest challenges Boyce has faced, though, has been the lack of spinning pitches in his home state. It has not been unusual for Boyce to go through the first innings of a match without bowling a ball, and in some cases nearly an entire Sheffield Shield game. Still, when the conditions have been more favourable, he has shown his value: he picked up 26 Shield wickets in 2013-14 after Cricket Australia issued instructions for states to prepare surfaces that would provide a more even contest. That brought an Australia A call-up for the four-day games against India A in Darwin in 2014, and he also played in the one-day quadrangular series. It was Boyce's second Australia A call-up, after he played against the England Lions in a one-day series in February 2013.

His one-day work for Australia A was particularly notable given that he has been largely ignored by Queensland in the 50-over format, having played only four Ryobi Cup games up until 2014. The Bulls have used Boyce more for the longer format - his second first-class game was the 2009-10 Shield final and he showed his promise with 6 for 181 off 44 overs in the second innings. The performance, which included some big turning leggies, was the only bright spot for the Bulls, who were beaten by Victoria by 457 runs. At 20, he was the youngest to take a five-wicket haul in a Shield final, and the display gained him a contract ahead of Daniel Doran for 2010-11. A good 2011-12 summer brought 20 Shield wickets at 34.40 for Boyce, who is a carpenter by trade.
ESPNcricinfo staff