Thomas Kelly has been having tons of fun since arriving in England a few weeks ago.

The 23-year-old South Australian has already hit three centuries in the midweek Cheltenham Premier T20 and will be targeting a fourth when Dumbleton Dynamite travel to Civi Sixers this evening.

And it’s not just in the quickfire format that he’s been piling up the runs, because he scored 112 in Dumbleton’s 250-run win over Cheltenham in Premier 2 Glos/Wilts of the West of England Premier League 10 days ago.

“He’s very, very good,” said Dumbleton captain Myles Holland. “He hits the ball very hard, he’s definitely the best overseas cricketer we’ve had since I’ve been at the club.”  

Kelly, whose twin Corey is also a top-drawer cricketer, arrived at Dumbleton with a very impressive CV, a CV that includes playing four-day Sheffield Shield cricket for South Australia.

He also plays for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash – the showpiece T20 tournament Down Under – and he’s certainly been giving  the ball a big bash in the Cheltenham Premier T20.

In three games he’s scored a remarkable 389 runs off just 170 balls, hitting an eye-catching 28 sixes along the way.

He made 124 from 49 balls against Tewkesbury Royals, 106 from 55 against University of Gloucestershire Giants and last week crunched 159 from 66 deliveries against Charlton Super Kings.

“He’s just smashing it in the Cheltenham T20,” said Holland. “He hits it straight and to the legside. He hits a lot in front of square but he’s very good all around the ground.

“He’s a big lad, strong, but he’s very good at finding the gaps.”

Unsurprisingly, Dumbleton are top of the Cheltenham Premier T20 – next week’s clash at unbeaten defending champions Hatherley Hurricanes will be a big game – and they are also second in Premier 2 Glos/Wilts after clocking up four wins.

Kelly has obviously played a big part in their early-season success in that competition too – he scored 68 in the win over Avebury – and Holland continued: “He’s a very clever cricketer, he reads the game very well. He’s still quite young but he’s very mature in the way he goes about it all.

“In red ball cricket especially, he plays it really properly, he builds an innings. He’s very sensible, he hits the bad balls but respects the good ones.”

And he’s also a decent bowler too.

“He bowls right-arm flat off-spin,” added Holland. “He’s taken a few wickets, he’s got a plan and he knows what to do.”

And Dumbleton certainly knew what they were doing when they invited Kelly over this season.

“It’s his first time in England,” said Holland. “He settled in straight away, I think that’s the most impressive thing about him.

“He’s a great guy. He’s quite confident and he really cares about the club. He helps with work on the ground – both at Dumbleton and Stanton - and coaches the kids on Friday evenings.”

Tonight’s game at the Civil Service ground starts at 6pm.