Jackson Barrett: Mahli Beardman is built for the big moments as he prepares to reignite Steve Smith battle

Perth Scorchers players have been there and done that. In the Big Bash League’s 15 years, they have now qualified for nine finals. In eight of them, they have been the top-ranked team and this Sunday’s decider will be the sixth played in Perth. It means their players are used to the highs and the pressure of finals cricket. Of the 11 that beat Sydney Sixers in The Qualifier on Tuesday, import Finn Allen and young quicks Brody Couch and Mahli Beardman are the only players who haven’t won a title for the Scorchers before. Pressure doesn’t get to Allen. The New Zealand opener has his own method that he sticks to almost regardless of the circumstances. Before a clash with Mitchell Starc earlier this week he told The West Australian he would “play the ball, not the man”. He certainly did that when he ramped the player of the Ashes over the wicket-keeper’s head for six. Beardman is the coolest and calmest 20-year-old you could ever meet. He plays as if he was built for the moment and recent weeks have proved he’s made for it. Beardman has taken eight wickets in his past four games at the pointy end of the tournament and cranked up the pace to Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell in the past week. Connolly had captained Australia’s under-19s side before he tore the BBL12 final to shreds three seasons ago. He was compared at the start of that season to batting great Shaun Marsh — before he had even made his debut — and his explosion was a matter of if, not when. There was a similar sense around Beardman this campaign. He played two games at the end of last summer and debuted for WA. Like Connolly he is an underage World Cup winner and his reputation for bowling serious heat preceded him through the Premier Cricket grades as a teenager. National selectors are already so enamoured with him, he has been named in Australian Twenty20 squads three times and will almost certainly debut in Pakistan in the next fortnight before he has even played a Sheffield Shield match. Beardman is simply going to become too hot to handle. After Tuesday night’s Scorchers victory, Sixers captain Moises Henriques attempted to douse the hype around the young West Aussie. He told reporters that Beardman was a “good young seamer” but wouldn’t go any further. That’s a man wary of having to face him again. The reality is, he had been rushed by one ball already in the over when he mistimed a pull shot that brought about his downfall. Beardman has added five kilometres of speed this season alone. That comes with the confidence and rhythm only regular games can instill. The best batters in the world won’t find comfort in facing him from here on in. The other secret weapon in his corner is Ashton Turner. One of the sharpest cricket minds in the country is pulling the strings as Beardman blasts players out. “We saw how inside he was going of that short ball and how fine he was trying to hit that, so I was pretty fortunate to have AT in my corner there,” Beardman said of the ploy to dismiss Smith on Tuesday night. There is always a player that stands up and makes people take notice in these finals. Mitch Owen did it last season, Connolly three seasons ago. And timing is everything in cricket. If Beardman helps the Scorchers home on Sunday night, it could kickstart a long international career.