Jokes radiate throughout Queensland’s cricket scene when it comes to Jem Ryan, though there would be few quips that are as flattering as what the blossoming paceman receives.
His teammates often refer to him as “Temu Barrel” or “Baby Barrel”, according to former New Zealand international Hamish Bennett, for his similarities to Test sensation Scott Boland in how he goes about his business on the field.
“He sort of possesses [the Boland traits] – he bowls over perpendicular, he can move the ball and wing the ball both ways if he wants, but he just focuses on control, which is one of his strengths,” the Bulls bowling coach told this masthead.
“He doesn’t try to get too fancy or too clever, he just repeats and repeats ball after ball, and it’s really impressive to watch. I think he’s probably someone who is just a born bowler.”
Bennett laughed that Ryan perhaps considered himself to be a budding AFL star before honing his focus on cricket, given his older brother Samson managed 31 games for the Richmond Tigers between 2021 and 2026. The latter has since inked a contract with the North Melbourne Kangaroos.
But the 22-year-old has pursued his ambition to become a future spearhead of the Baggy Green, as he leads a contingent of six Queensland quicks all aged 22 or under eager to announce themselves as potential successors to Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.
While Ryan had battled some stress-related injuries in his juniors, Bennett said those setbacks had not been cricket-caused, until he suffered a side strain in the Bulls’ drawn clash with Victoria at the Gabba last week.
That concern kept him from bowling on day four, having taken three wickets in each innings – including the scalps of former Test batsmen Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris in each knock, and international squad member for the South Africa series Sam Harper in the second dig.
Ryan has now claimed a wicket in each of his Sheffield Shield innings across six matches, with Bulls interim skipper Mitch Swepson revealing changes to the youngster’s run-up had been key in reaping rewards.
“I know that was one thing this preseason he worked a lot on, and the more preseasons you do the stronger you get, the more you trust your body, and the more you get your recovery right, so he’s ticking all those boxes,” Swepson said.
“You’d think he’s been playing for seasons, he just locks in, and it’s unfortunate he’s done a little injury – we’ll see how long that puts him out for. Hopefully, he gets back soon because he’s in a lovely rhythm at the moment … and adds a lot to our attack.
“You’re seeing out there a pretty formidable bowler when he gets it right.”
Bennett elaborated that run-up tweak came back to shortening his charge, having approached the crease in a “static” fashion only to have now found greater rhythm.
But Ryan is not alone in pushing his credentials as a man for national selectors to watch once the nation’s superstar trio draw the curtain on their careers.
Within the Bulls’ ranks is an emerging cartel – Charles Lachmund, Callum Vidler, Thomas Straker, Tom Balkin, Ollie Patterson and Ryan – who are all in the fledgling stages of their professional tenures, and bring versatile assets to the state set-up.
“The great thing is they’ve all got different character traits and different skills. Some possess pace, some possess height, some swing it, some nip it, some are bounce bowlers, and some rely purely on air speed,” Bennett said.
“I think the variety of the bowlers is probably the most exciting bit; not one of them is the same, and when you go against different state teams it’s always nice having that variation in your attack and those subtle differences.”
Injuries have derailed several of the group throughout the fledgling stages of their careers, with Vidler – who regularly clocks speeds of well faster than 140km/h – slowly being managed back from stress fractures in his back, having not been sighted on the field since March 2025.
Lachmund, meanwhile, took 12 wickets at an average of 16.33 at this year’s Under-19s One-Day World Cup and got his first opportunity with Queensland’s Second XI this summer. Bennett hinted the teenager – capable of bowling regularly beyond 140km/h – would be eased towards higher honours.
“The delicate thing with these young guys who bowl fast is making sure you slowly expose them. White ball cricket is ruthless when you miss your area, the margin for error is small … and then the demands for Shield cricket are so hard physically,” Bennett said.
“It’s just about trying to time your run perfectly with whatever format he is going to debut in.”
Bennett said Vidler was working towards hitting top flight around Christmas during the Brisbane Heat’s Big Bash League campaign, referring to the red-haired tearaway as a “Formula One car – a young 21-year-old kid who can bowl 150km/h out-swingers”.
“He’s looked really impressive in the nets, we clocked him the other day at 145km/h, so he’s going now, but he’s a Formula 1 car – you have to slowly get all your mechanics right, and sometimes the slight misalignment or misjudgement can set you back a couple of weeks,” Bennett said.
“He actually got quite sick in the winter, so he had three weeks off training which really set us back. He’s had some obstacles and hurdles, but we’re looking pretty good now for the BBL.
“Hopefully on December 15 we can see him steaming in under lights.”
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