Corey Rocchiccioli, the Western Australia off-spinner, reached out to Simon Harmer during the winter to seek guidance on the craft of Test cricket. Rocchiccioli is firmly in contention for Australia's tour of India for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in January 2027, and the 29-year-old has been working to refine his bowling ahead of that potential selection.

The Western Australia spinner has been working with Daniel Vettori, the former New Zealand great who has coached Australia's bowling unit in recent years, as part of his development pathway. Rocchiccioli has featured in six Australia A matches over the past two years, including four appearances across two separate tours to India in 2025 and 2026. He has not yet played Test cricket and has not been included in any Test squads, with Matthew Kuhnemann and Todd Murphy preferred as partners to Lyon or as his replacements.

"I got his phone number in the winter, and so I sort of reached out to have a chat, and yeah got plenty from it, which was quite nice," Rocchiccioli said as quoted by Cricinfo.

"Basically, him and Gaz [Lyon] like that [in South Africa] was the best series that I've watched in a long time for spin bowling. [Keshav] Maharaj as well. So, yeah, I just wanted to get in touch and learn from the greats. And I feel like him, Gaz, and Maharaj are great to watch spin bowling," he added.

On the day before Sheffield Shield cricket against Victoria, Rocchiccioli delivered 21 overs for 1 wicket at a cost of 67 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on a surface that offered little assistance to the bowlers. Peter Handscomb made an unbeaten 131 for Victoria on that opening day. Rocchiccioli implemented the technical adjustments he had discussed with Harmer during his recent conversation.

"Just probably changed my angles a little bit. I'm still growing in that space, to be honest. I'm evolving. I was asking [Harmer] plenty about that sort of stuff and learning and growing in that space. So I'm actually really enjoying what's been presented in front of me at the moment, and trying my hardest to see what works and what plans stick. I felt like I tried plenty today, and I felt like it was probably one of my most consistent days for the summer," said Rocchiccioli.

Rocchiccioli's recent tour of India in 2026 showed marked improvement compared to his 2025 visit. He claimed eight wickets at an average of 27.50 across two first-class matches in Puducherry, including a four-wicket haul. By contrast, Todd Murphy took 10 wickets at an average of 20.60 on the same tour. In 2025, when both spinners toured India to play in Lucknow, Rocchiccioli averaged 44.50 while Murphy averaged 52.80 on surfaces that did not offer the same degree of turn.

"I felt like I performed better this time around compared to the year before because I had far more knowledge of what I was going to come across," Rocchiccioli said.

Rocchiccioli has established himself as Sheffield Shield cricket's leading wicket-taker among spinners over the past five summers, a record that underscores his domestic consistency. He has played six Australia A matches across two tours to India in 2025 and 2026, building experience on surfaces and in conditions that will be central to his potential role in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.