Hugh Weibgen is only 21 and has played just 26 matches at the senior level, but the batting allrounder's game and temperament has already impressed many in Australia. Along with 19-year-old Ollie Peake, who has been fast-tracked into international cricket and franchise T20 leagues, Weibgen is among the exciting next-gen Australia players to watch out.
Weibgen's temperament especially came to the fore during last season's One-Day Cup in September, when he guided Queensland's remarkable chase of 322 against Western Australia at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane. When Weibgen came out to the crease, Queensland were 38 for 4 in the 13th over, but he marshalled them to an incredibly unlikely victory with his 85-ball century along with the lower order.
"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't watched it," Weibgen said while at the MRF Academy in Chennai last month when asked if he had watched highlights of that innings during the winter. "I definitely have gone back and watched it, but I try not to get too excited. I try to stay level, ride the highs and lows similar, but yeah, I have watched it once (laughs).
"Jack [Wildermuth] is such a good mate of mine and it was awesome to have him down the other end ... we just kept it simple and pretended it was a T20 Max game and tried to keep it [asking rate] under 10s and yeah, had a bit of luck in there, but managed to sneak over the line."
Just a year after leading Australia past India to the Under-19 World Cup title in Benoni, Weibgen produced the kind of a knock that might have made his hero Michael Hussey proud. When he was part of Sydney Thunder in the BBL, Weibgen also had some opportunities to meet Hussey.
"Michael Hussey was my biggest hero growing up," Weibgen said. "I absolutely loved him, it was so cool growing up watching him and I guess he was through the middle order when I was watching him, so I pretended to try and even left-handed for a while there but I wasn't good enough. So I went back to the right but, yeah, he was my idol growing up.
"I even copied his number, went to 48 on the back, and it was awesome to chat to him. He was so generous with his time to me and each time I see him before a Big Bash game now, I make sure I go say g'day and he's a great person."
During his stint with Thunder, Weibgen was also fascinated by some of Sam Billings' trick shots, including the scoop and lap-sweep, and worked on trying to nail those himself in spin-friendly conditions at the MRF academy during a two-week camp in Chennai in August. During the visit to Chennai, Weibgen tested out some of those shots against the Andhra Ranji team, coached by Gary Stead, under whom New Zealand had won the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2021.
"I got along with Sam Billings very well at Thunder and the sweep or scoop is definitely something I have practiced here in Chennai," Weibgen said. "There's just net bowlers coming for days, so it's awesome getting to practice all different types of sweeps. It's different lengths of balls and it's, yeah, really good practice. The sweep is not a natural shot for me and definitely something I needed to practice. It's something I've been working on."
In his young career, Weibgen has been shuffled up and down the order, batting at positions ranging from opening to No. 8 in 13 BBL innings across two teams - Thunder and Brisbane Heat. The output and strike rate (105.98) hasn't been great so far, but Weibgen feels that he is better for the experience and is learning to deal with the pressure that such a role invites in white-ball cricket.
"Yeah, it's definitely tough," Weibgen said. "It does take time to figure out what's best as a middle-order batter, but my kind of plan now is to understand what the team needs from me and just try and bring it back to that each ball and then I come up with how I'm going to go about it from there. But definitely getting all sorts of different experiences in the Big Bash, I think I've batted every spot in the top eight, I think, so that's been awesome for my development.
"Hitting the first ball for six is something I practice and something that's part of the game. It's a skill that is so valuable, so I think one of my strengths is being flexible and where I can bat in different sides, that's definitely something that I try to practice and be ready to go into any sort of situation."
In the past some back issues had limited Weibgen's secondary skill - offspin - but he's now back to honing it, with Anthony Clark, the former NSW offspinner, keeping a close eye on Weibgen's bowling in spin-friendly Chennai. Back home in Australia, Weibgen has also been able to connect with Nathan Lyon, thanks to his association with John Davison, the former Canada offspinner who has also played Australian state cricket.
"Clarky gives me honest feedback on little things that you know I can improve in my bowling," Weibgen said. "Just probably finding a few technical things and just improving all those little things slightly and hopefully they add up to make a difference.
"I also know Gaz well now, I'm fortunate enough to have faced him a few times when he does sessions with Davo up in Brisbane. So I get to speak to him not only about how I should play him but, you know, important things for bowling as well."
Before Johan Botha stepped down as Queensland coach, he had earmarked Weibgen as a future state captain, despite his limited experience at senior level. While Weibgen doesn't want to get ahead of himself, he believes that his interest in the tactical side of the game and advice from senior players have helped him to try and stay a step ahead of the opposition.
"Being a lover of the game, I'm into the tactics sort of thing," Weibgen said. "I think I have an ability to develop some really good friendships, which, I think is important, but I just, yeah, love learning about the game, we're really fortunate enough at Queensland Cricket and we have so many good leaders who are older - Uzzie [Usman Khawaja] and Marnus [Labuschagne]."
Until recently, Weigben lived together with Tom Straker, his former Under-19 team-mate and current Queensland team-mate. They were cricket nuts so much that the game used to be on even when they were playing cards.
"Tom is my best mate and we lived together for three years. I think my family likes Tom more than me," Weibgen said with a laugh. "There's always cricket going on in the background or, you know, chatting at the dinner table, my younger brother Harry loves it too, so the entire family loves the game. So, yeah, it's definitely a cricket household, gear everywhere."
For all his success at Under-19 level and List A cricket, Weibgen is learning the ropes in the Sheffield Shield. In 11 first-class innings so far, he has managed 186 runs at an average of 16.90. Weigben is hoping to remedy those numbers and help put Queensland in contention for the Shield title in the upcoming domestic season.
"I mean, for me, probably the main thing is just I'm really excited about the domestic season we've got coming up," he said. "Just try and have a really good season with the Bulls and hopefully we can push towards that Shield final. That would be nice and that's the main goal for me."