From fill-in to front row: Joel Davies' rise to key Sydney Sixers role

Sydney Sixers allrounder Joel Davies will enter his second BBL final in a very different frame of mind to his first two seasons ago.

Against Brisbane Heat in January 2024, Davies made 15 off 10 balls in a heavy Sixers defeat. At the start of the season his BBL career read: 52 runs at 8.66 and one wicket in 10 matches.

This edition the 22-year-old has taken 14 wickets at 12.00 with an economy rate of 6.00 while scoring 118 runs at a strike-rate of 163.88. He was Player of the Match in the Challenger final against Hobart Hurricanes where he made 27 off 12 balls, claimed 2 for 17 and took three catches.

"I think in that season, I sort of thought I was filling a number in a way. I wasn't bowling and I was batting 7 or 8 and I wasn't really in the team to do either one," he recalled of the final against Heat. "But now, I think I've solidified my spot that I'm in there to bat and bowl."

Early in the summer Davies was handed a five-match ban (with three games suspended) for what was deemed a lewd celebration in grade cricket. But he made his Sheffield Shield debut in early December, scoring an unbeaten half-century against Queensland.

Last season he played just three games and bowled eight overs for Sixers, but in this campaign he has emerged as a key figure in the attack. "I think this year I've got a bit more opportunity with the ball," he said. "Luckily enough, I've made the most of it. The first over wasn't great tonight [against Hurricanes], so I was happy to come back and finish it off a bit better."

Davies works closely with Anthony Clark at New South Wales and also keeps in regular contact with Steve O'Keefe who was in the Sixers side when Davies started with the club and remains a mentor.

"He's the guru," Davies said. "We're both pretty similar, we don't spin the ball too much. It's just [about] trying to keep the ball out of the batter's swinging arc. We're more defensive bowlers and if we get the odd wicket here and there, it's a bonus."

Davies also put on a display of his fielding prowess against Hurricanes including a superb catch off his own bowling to remove Matthew Wade and a tumbling take in the deep to claim Ben McDermott.

"I think the one off my bowling, probably could have got two hands too, but we'll take it," he said. "It's good for the cameras. But, yeah, I do a lot of work on it [fielding]. I think in terms of if I don't perform with the bat or ball, I can still have an impact on the game and the field."

Mitchell Starc has been impressed by the all-round skills Davies has shown having seen his development while around the New South Wales set-up between international duty.

"He's clearly very talented. I just think as a Blues [NSW] group we know the talent he's got and everyone's starting to see it now at the BBL level," Starc said. "Tonight was another example of that. He's great in the field [and] I think he's got a pretty mature head for a young fella with bat and ball. He's pretty happy with some of the attention, too, I'll say that.

"I think all his skills have been on display and he's been working hard. Really happy to see him get some of those rewards and he's a handy little player for us when he can do all that, come out at different stages with the bat, left-arm offspinner who can field really well. It's a great package."