Mark Steketee is just one out of a long line of right-arm fast bowlers to emerge from Queensland. Having risen through the ranks in junior cricket, he has represented the Australian U-19 side as well. He made his debut in domestic cricket with the Big Bash League in the 2013/14 season, at the age of 20, and also played for the NPS (National Performance Squad) in the Quadrangular One-Day tournament in the second half of 2014.
Steketee made his Shield debut later, in 2015, and was impressive on debut, taking 7 wickets to take the Queensland side to victory against a strong Tasmanian team. He was also picked for Cricket Australia XI for whom he took 5 wickets in 4 matches at an average of 38.40 runs per wicket and conceded at a rate of 6.06 runs per over. He has been a regular in the Brisbane side, and forms part of the core including Brendon McCullum, Joe Burns and Chris Lynn. He has played 22 matches for the Heat, and has taken 27 wickets in the process, making him the third-highest wicket-taker for his franchise.
He was retained by the Heat despite a poor wicket tally and economy rate in the 5th edition. He rewarded the faith of the franchise by taking 15 wickets in the 6th edition, 3 more than he had taken in his three prior editions combined, and thereby making him an crucial asset to the Brisbane Heat side. An effective lower-order slogger, he will continue to be a utility player in the Brisbane Heat line-up in the forthcoming 2017/18 edition of the league.
by Rishi Roy
as of December 2017
