After representing Australia at under-19 level in 2011-12 alongside the likes of Cameron Bancroft and Travis Head, the former Launceston and Bracknell paceman has had to bide his time in the Cricket Tasmania Premier League. 

The 26-year-old spent five seasons honing his craft with North Hobart before topping the league’s charts in 2016-17 and coming within four wickets of repeating the feat in 2017-18.

He was rewarded with a Futures League recall in October – nearly six years after his previous second XI cap – and has since played twice for Adam Griffith’s Tigers, yielding 10 wickets at 15.50.

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Pyecroft credits a trip to England in the winter of 2016 as the catalyst for taking his game to the next level. 

“I played cricket with a club in Birmingham and when I came back from that I started to figure out a few things with my own game,” he said. 

“The last two grade seasons I’ve gone ok ... and sort of out of nowhere they’ve given me the opportunity at Shield level.

“It’s been a long journey to where I’ve got to, but I’ve had a lot of people backing me and giving me good opportunities and I’ve finally started to figure out my own game.”

A $20,000 Kerry Packer pathway scholarship holder between 2011-13, Pyecroft said he had been equally prepared to wait for his chance at the top level and to pursue other avenues had cricket not worked out.

“From my early years it took a bit to figure out that it wasn’t going to happen straight away,” he said. 

“When you’re a bit younger you can be a bit impatient and almost naive about how it all works, but for the last five to six years I’ve not really expected anything.

“I hadn’t shut it off that it was never going to happen, but I was getting my life sorted outside of that to say ‘well if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen’.

“I’m just lucky enough that I’ve been given the opportunity to play a couple of games.”

Rising paceman Alex Pyecroft had no need to be overwhelmed when he first joined up with the Tasmanian squad.

Not only was he already on the books at Cricket Tasmania, but he went to school with several of the first XI.

The 26-year-old’s promotion from the Tigers Academy in November was virtually a Launceston Church Grammar reunion with the likes of fellow alumni George Bailey, James Faulkner and Gabe Bell. 

“The Tigers team at the moment’s got a couple of Grammar boys ... me and Gabe played a bit of cricket together,” Pyecroft said.

“George Bailey’s a Grammar boy as well – his old man John coached me at school for my first XI career at Grammar and was a pretty big influence on my career.”

Pyecroft upped the ante on his push for senior selection by taking 11 wickets in last season’s Cricket Tasmania Premier League grand final, and performed well in Futures League to win selection for the Tigers’ fifth Sheffield Shield fixture against South Australia.

In his second game he secured his maiden five-for – an astounding 5-28 in 11 overs – to help roll Queensland for 107. 

“There’s plenty of times as a bowler that you do your role for the team but the rewards go to someone else, so I was just lucky they came my way that day,” he said.

“I was pretty happy about it and my teammates were very happy for me as well.

“We didn’t end up winning that game but it was a nice period that I’ll remember for a while.”

On top of his personal game, Pyecroft is also managing the fortunes of the state’s women in his role as female pathway coach.

Upon completing his duties with the under-18 state side in Bendigo this week, he will assist head coach Salliann Briggs in the Tigers’ return to WNCL cricket. 

“It’s been tricky, but it’s also been a pretty enjoyable and rewarding last six months,” Pyecroft said of his time in the role.

“Once that started in July, that put this 12 months as my big crack at playing and seeing what could happen.

“I’ve had some really good support from not only Sal Briggs ...  but also Drew Ginn and Adam Griffith.”