James Hopes was earmarked for higher honours in national youth teams, but took a few years to settle once graduating to the first-class level. If Shane Watson had returned to Queensland from Tasmania a year earlier, Hopes could have spent 2004-05 pushing for a state place rather than impressing the Australia selectors and earning a one-day tour of New Zealand. A brisk medium-pacer whose aggressive, exciting batting has been shuffled around the Queensland order, he has improved at regular intervals, scoring four Pura Cup centuries.

Bowling was his main weapon in the domestic competition 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. Adding eight ODI appearances, he did not take more than a wicket in a match, 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 cut from the national contract list and told to re-impress in interstate competition. He did that 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.

A regular sweater in the gym, Hopes would love to be a professional golfer, but instead drives powerfully through the covers. Evenly balanced as an allrounder - both disciplines still need polish to survive in the international game - his bowling has variety and tight final overs have regularly picked up wickets and saved runs. Only Michael Kasprowicz has more one-day victims for Queensland than Hopes, who made his debut in 2001. He began 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 - he scored 105, 71 and 51 at the 1998 Youth World Cup - and the Academy.
Peter English July 2007

First-class debut: Queensland v Western Australia in Perth, 2001-02
List A Debut: Queensland v Victoria at Brisbane, 2000-01
Australia Under-19s 1997-98
Commonwealth Bank Cricket Academy 1998

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Mar 4, 2008 James Hopes powers the ball to the boundary © Getty Images

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Mar 2, 2008 Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrates after catching an edge off James Hopes © Getty Images

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