Jamie Stewart

Jamie Stewart is an accurate left arm spin bowler, gritty lower order batsman, and enthusiastic fieldsman. Now in Sydney after a job promotion resulted in a move east from his native State of Western Australia in 1999, he is in the midst of a battle to establish himself in the New South Wales team after several seasons on the brink of interstate representation at home. Primarily on account of his powers of containment, Stewart had - prior to his act of relocation - been a relatively regular member of Western Australia's one-day side. First class appearances had, however, been more difficult to muster in the light of the rise of other spinners in the West and the perception that he did not bowl with enough variety or flight to render him an automatic choice. Frustratingly for him, the attainment of a more regular berth has been no less elusive in his new surroundings; he played just two one-day matches and one first class game in his opening season with the Blues and failed to capture wickets in grade cricket with enough vigour to convince selectors that he was worthy of any more. He is favoured by more friendly pitches in Sydney than he had been in Perth but the fact that he is now generally battling the likes of Stuart MacGill and Gavin Robertson for a place almost certainly renders matters as difficult as they have always been. (John Polack, May 2000)