South Australian captain Nathan McSweeney has stood tall and made his case for the heavily debated opening spot as Australia A defeated India A in Mackay.
National Selectors have been unable to settle on a partner for Usman Khawaja since David Warner’s retirement with several names thrown up in the debate over the last 12 months.
It was McSweeney, who has not previously opened in first-class cricket, who rose to the top and staked his claim for the position, making a respectable 39 and 88 to finish as Australia’s top scorer in both innings.
He also put together a critical 141-run partnership with Tasmania’s Beau Webster to chase down the 225 runs needed to seal the win over India A.
Meanwhile, test hopefuls Sam Konstas, Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris who have all been touted for the position, and each failed to fire up in what was declared a ‘bat-off’ in last week’s match.
Commentator Gav Joshi says he would be including the 25 year-old in the Test squad against India later this month.
“The first innings has been a bit of a duck off, as we called it,“ he told SportFM.
“On the final day, where the pitch probably flattened out a little bit, I thought Nathan McSweeney was outstanding, just his composure to get Australia home.
“225 is a bit of a tricky chase, but just his presence at the crease just allowed even Beau Webster to be there. I think it was a fantastic inning.
“I think Nathan McSweeney, I’ll be penciling his name, firstly, to open the batting this week against India A again in Melbourne, and then who knows, bigger things to come on the 22nd of November.”
In Shield, McSweeney is one of the more in form batsman averaging 97, batting at number three for South Australia. It is highly likely Australia will lean towards him to fill the spot in Australia’s top order later this month.
Australia is expected to release their squad later this week, providing the others also chasing the opening position one more opportunity to build a case in Melbourne this week.
However, Joshi says he would be interested to see the order shaken up to see how McSweeney performs in the opening spot.
“I would be tempted to open with McSweeney, leave someone like a Sam Konstas at number three, so let him get exposed,” he said.
“After that, I don’t think Cameron Bancroft’s going to be in the mix, to be honest. I think it might be just a bat-off between Harris and McSweeney.
“McSweeney, if he’s ready, at the age of 25, you must pick him. I look back at Marnus Labuschagne made his first-class debut and opened the batting, and then he jumped down to three and then opened the game down to number five, despite playing at number five most of his career.
“So why can’t Nathan McSweeney do it? If he’s ready, I think they should pick him right now.”
While all eyes have been on the top of the order, Joshi believes one young West Aussie all-rounder has flown under the radar in the middle order.
Cooper Connelly made a confident 37 runs to finish as the second highest run scorer after McSweeney in the first innings, but did not get the chance to bat in the second.
“I must admit that the one person which I don’t think enough people are talking about is Cooper Connolly,” he said.
I think he’s formed his game around Shaun Marsh and we saw that in the first inning. Some of the drives he hit down the pitch and he plays spin pretty well as well.
“He’s only 21 and he’s batting, I think, seven and eight down in Western Australia. Perhaps next Shield season, we’ll see maybe five and six, but I think he’s got immense talent.
“There’s a lot of focus on Konstas right now, but I think Cooper Connolly is one guy to really watch out for.”
IMAGE: cricket.com.au