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“You just take the good with the bad really, you ride the rollercoaster,” Sangha said.
“There could be a lot of worse things that could be said. It’s nice feedback, but at the same time if you get caught up in too much of what people say about you, whether it’s good or bad, you can go down the wrong track.
“I’m just grateful to be playing another game for NSW. It’s nice that people are saying nice things, but at the end of the day actions speak louder than words.”
Actions speak louder than words both on and off the cricket pitch – something Sangha experienced first-hand in a visit to Ronald McDonald House in Canberra alongside Peter Nevill and Kurtis Patterson before their Shield showdown got underway.
Actions like Nevill writing “you’re an inspiration” when the trio signed a copy of ‘Possum Magic’ for Henry, talking about JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series with Becca, or learning Sam’s great grandfather was Steve and Mark Waugh’s first cricket coach, spoke louder than words.
But the one thing that stood out for 19-year-old Sangha was meeting Eli, a tiny baby born months premature. He walked out of the room and turned to Nevill: “man, that was eye-opening”.
Jason Sangha in action for NSW during the Sheffield Shield match against Qld at Manuka Oval on Friday.Credit:Lawrence Atkin
Little things like that make Sangha realise how fortunate he is to be a teenager living his dream. It makes dealing with the pressure of being Australian cricket’s “next big thing” seem insignificant.
The hype around Sangha was revived after his maiden first class ton against Tasmania earlier this month, a knock that came just days after the teenager proved he has what it takes to match it against the best in the world.
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Sangha scored a classy 38 for the Prime Minister’s XI against South Africa in Canberra last month to put his name up in lights and prove the game still has plenty of worth to Australian cricket, complementing Jason Behrendorff’s Australian recall.
“A couple of years ago against Sri Lanka in a Prime Minister’s XI game I got a second-ball duck, so at least it was nice to last more than two balls out there in the middle at Manuka a couple of weeks ago,” Sangha said.
“I’ve been lucky, I’ve had that exposure to international bowling, it was just another great opportunity to see where my skills are at.
“When you’ve got someone like Dale Steyn or Kagiso Rabada coming in, I was almost starstruck, seeing Dale Steyn run in. I had to tell myself to actually focus on the ball rather than the great man himself running in.
“It was an awesome experience, if you get the opportunity to face international teams you’ve got to grab it with both hands.”
Caden Helmers is a sports reporter for The Canberra Times
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