James Hopes Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

JR Hopes

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DateLine: 17th June 2008

 

A brisk medium-pacer whose aggressive, exciting batting has meant that he has been shuffled up and down the Queensland batting order regularly, he has improved at regular intervals, scoring four Pura Cup centuries so far. For his all round abilities, he was bought by the Kings XI Punjab to play for them in the Indian Premier League. Hopes made an early start to his career, beginning with Queensland's Emerging Players as a 13-year-old and played in the state's under-age sides before progressing to the Australia Under-19 team. In 2005-06, he collected 15 wickets at 18.33 in the ING Cup and 16 at 22.56 in the Pura Cup - but he was unable to transfer his regular success into the international arena. In eight ODI appearances, he was less successful with the ball, although his batting showed promise with a top score of 43 against Sri Lanka. Hopes was dropped from the squad at the end of the VB Series and missed the tour to South Africa, but when Watson suffered a calf problem in Bangladesh he was replaced by his Queensland team-mate. Despite the late-season promotion, Hopes was not given a renewed central contract and he went back to play for Queensland in 2006-07, scoring 553 runs and taking 21 wickets in the Pura Cup, and capturing a season-high 20 victims and a first one-day century in the FR Cup. When another Watson injury occurred Hopes was put on World Cup standby before regaining his Cricket Australia deal.