From wilderness to World Cup for Australia’s Agar

Ashton Agar © Gallo Images

After a historic international debut was followed by a period in the wilderness, spinning allrounder Ashton Agar relied on resilience to fight his way back into the Australian team.

The left-armer looms as an intriguing option for Australia at his first 50-over World Cup appearance, a decade after he became a cult hero and broke a test cricket record.

In the first Ashes test in 2013, the then 19-year-old Agar was picked from obscurity after being selected ahead of incumbent spinner Nathan Lyon at Trent Bridge.

The wiry debutant stunned the cricket world by hammering England’s potent attack for 98 runs, the highest ever score from a number 11 and a record that still stands.

But Agar quickly fell back to Earth, dropped after the next match having lacked penetration with the ball and unable to recapture the heights of his swashbuckling knock.

Agar returned to…