An extremely tall fast bowler at 204 centimetres, Billy Stanlake won a surprise call-up to Australia's ODI squad in January 2017 to play against Pakistan. Stanlake impressed selectors with his pace and bounce, having debuted in all formats at domestic level during the 2015-16 summer. However, back injuries have caused problems for Stanlake and at the time of his ODI selection had played only two first-class games and four List A matches, as well as seven BBL games.

Such was the excitement around his bowling he was handed a Cricket Australia contract for 2017-18, partly to manage his workloads, and he was bought by Royal Challenger Bangalore in the IPL. He played BBL and T20I cricket exclusively in the summer of 2017-18 and had his contract renewed after playing a key part in the Strikers BBL title and Australia T20I tri-series win over New Zealand and England.

He joined Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 2018 IPL and played a big part in Australia's limited-overs tours of England, Zimbabwe and the UAE, and the Australia A tour of India. But he played just one ODI and two T20Is in the 2018-19 home summer as his form dipped. He returned to Sheffield Shield cricket playing two matches in March 2019 but lost his CA contract for 2019-20.

Stanlake was also a talented Australian rules footballer in his youth, and his father Warren Stanlake played for AFL team Footscray.
ESPNcricinfo staff