When Tim Scott first met Beau Webster, the now hulking test cricketer was a gangly 14-year-old playing second grade at the Kingborough Cricket Club.

“Beau was a young kid always the club, tall, a little string bean, he was a slip of a lad back then,” Scott said.

After Webster made a hard-fought 15, Scott was pulled aside by second grade captain Baden Ribbon.

“He said at the time, ‘I think we found someone’,” he said.

Scott — who held the record for the most runs for Kingborough until Webster broke it — became the club’s coach in 2014, just before Webster made his Tasmanian debut as a 20-year-old.

They’ve remained close ever since.

“He loves the game, [he’s] eager to learn. 

“I think with Beau the great thing about him was his eagerness to learn, and he was patient; he wanted to be the cricketer that he’s proving to be in the last few years, but he’s allowed himself the time to do to that.

“And that’s an 11-year journey for him and that’s the most pleasing part — giving himself a chance to find a way and fight a way through the system.”

Long path to the top

The path to the top has been a long and winding one for the 31-year-old from Snug, in southern Tasmania.

For the first half of his career, Webster struggled to find his way as a top-order batter in first-class cricket.

Current Kingborough coach Tom Martyn played alongside Webster for the Tasmanian second XI right in the middle of that uncertainty.

“But he knuckled down with the coaches, sought out ways he could get picked, and, through bowling and being an all-rounder, he’s been able to do that.

“So it’s just someone showing initiative and wanting to do something really badly.”

A switch to the middle order in 2020, and a change to bowling medium pace instead of off-spin eventually helped Webster’s career take off.

‘A burning desire’: Inside Webster’s rise

In the 2023-24 Sheffield Shield season, Webster topped the batting stats, plundering 938 runs at an average of 58.6.

He also claimed 30 wickets, the only Shield cricketer other than legendary West Indian Sir Garfield Sobers to score more than 900 runs and take 30 wickets in the same season.

He continued that form this season, averaging 50.5 runs with the bat, before a strong performance in the Australia A tour game against India.

Scott puts Webster’s rise down to growing into his 200 cm frame and being more aggressive with both bat and ball.

“That’s what given him the real spur to get to this level.”

Former Test captain Tim Paine, the last Tasmanian before Webster to play a Test match, said Webster’s recent form had “almost demanded selection”.

“Sometimes with cricket, it takes a bit longer to fulfil your potential,” Paine said.

“The best thing for Beau is that while he’s debuting a bit older, he’s debuting while he’s playing his absolute best cricket, so you couldn’t ask for anything better.

“So I’m sure there’s a lot of cricketers … hoping Beau Webster does really well.”

Parents caught by surprise

Given Webster’s stunning rise caught his closest supporters by surprise, it’s fitting his Test debut caused his parents to scramble.

On Thursday night, a social media post to the West Hobart Good Karma Network put the call-out for a last-minute dog sitter for Webster’s parents, ideally staying until at least Tuesday next week.

“A friend’s son has been selected for the Australian cricket side!! So she’s off to Sydney at very short notice,” the post read.

Locals in Snug, where Webster grew up, were equally as surprised, and delighted.

“We haven’t had this much media attention in a long time,” Snug IGA worker James Turnbull said.

“A lot of people have known for him a long time coming through, and when he made the squad, a lot of people were talking about how he’d go and whether he’d make it through, and now that he has, it’s great.”

Webster pouched two tidy catches in his first day of Test cricket, conceding 29 runs off 13 overs as Australia bowled out India.

He was denied a wicket when a lunging Nathan Lyon dropped Ravindra Judeja in the gully, with further insult added when Rishabh Pant sent the next ball for six.

For Scott, the catches show Webster belongs at the top level.

“He’s ready for the challenge.”

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