Nathan McSweeney said he was “very frustrated” to be dropped from the Cricket World Cup after three Test matches. (Getty Images: James Worsfold/Cricket Australia)
Nathan McSweeney’s Test cricket debut was a brutal one.
“Under the ‘survival of the fittest’ formula, the South Australian was thrust into the Australian opening role, a position that has been usurped by modern greats David Warner and Steve Smith.
His lack of first-class experience in cricket’s only specialist batting position did not matter.
Well, that’s not entirely true. McSweeney was fourth in the first match and was promoted to the top of the order in the second Australia A tour match, behind three genuine openers who were vying for the chance to partner Usman Khawaja in the Test team.
That match started two weeks before the first Test against India.
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The 25-year-old has had a high of three and a low of seven batting in South Australia’s Sheffield Shield squad, but has never reached one or two.
Sadly, selectors deemed him the clear favourite for the job after a tight battle between McSweeney, 19-year-old NSW boy Sam Constas, Western Australia’s Cameron Bancroft and Victoria’s Marcus Harris.
Bancroft and Harris played 10 and 14 matches in the top flight, both averaging around 25, and were always behind in the fight for a Test berth.
Constas hit two centuries in the first match of the Shield season, while McSweeney scored 55 and 127 without losing a single in that match, so he seems the most likely choice.
Konstance scored 107 runs off 97 balls in the rain-shortened PM XI match. (Getty Images: Mark Nolan)
But, for whatever reason, whether it was age, a few low scores or McSweeney’s poor form, Constas was not selected for the Australian national team, which was named ahead of the first Border-Gavaskar Test series.
Chairman of the selection committee George Bailey said at the time: “We believe that Nathan displays qualities that would make him a great fit for Test cricket, and he has also recently achieved excellent results in domestic cricket.
“His performances for South Australia and Australia A work in his favour and support our view that he is ready for an opportunity at Test level.”
The gifts and gaffes from a silly Gabba Test
The photo shows Travis Hyde pulling the ball as three Indian fielders look on
Australia and India were set to play out a tie at the Gabba, but not before a spirited fifth day of action posed some untimely problems for the Australian batsmen.
Three matches and 40 days later, McSweeney’s debut as a Test cricketer came to an abrupt end when he was dropped from the Boxing Day Test.
Even in the six Test matches he played, only half of his performances resembled normal.
In his first match in Perth, McSweeney was beaten 10-0 by Jasprit Bumrah.
In Adelaide, he outlasted senior partner Khawaja in a brutal contest under lights but fell for 39 the next morning before finishing unbeaten on 10 in a notional 19-run chase for victory.
McSweeney’s performance in his first match in Adelaide was so impressive it looked like he might be sidelined for the entire summer. (Getty Images: Robert Cianfron)
In the rain-affected Brisbane match, he again lost narrowly to Bumrah in the first innings, then scored four runs in a frantic and fruitless second innings by Australia, chasing a quick score and setting a target for victory that ultimately fell short.
That’s not to say McSweeney’s 72 runs in six innings at an average of 14.4 was outstanding or even good, but what’s a passing grade for a first-time opening pitcher in an unfamiliar position facing one of the best bowlers of this generation?
No one in Australia’s top six, other than Travis Head, scored more than 17 points twice.
Khawaja averaged 12.6 in the series with a top score of 21; Marnus Labuschagne averaged 16.4 despite a top score of 64; Steve Smith scored an impressive century at the Gabba but otherwise had scores of 0, 17, 4 and 2.
These three have until recently been at the forefront of Australian batting and this is a trend among the three of them.
“It’s obviously going to be a challenge for the top batsmen throughout the series and we want to offer different options in the squad for the next two games,” Bailey said in announcing the changes at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Mitch Marsh is ostensibly a different topic as he is the ‘all-rounder’ in the team but his return of 69 in 13.8 overs in the third Test match as the Australian attack struggled in the absence of Josh Hazlewood, he managed just 2 off 79 balls.
If we still consider the obviously out-of-shape Marsh as an all-rounder, it is worth noting that McSweeney took 2-20 in nine overs against India A against spinners and posted career-best Shield figures of 4-89.
Former captain Michael Clarke told the Beyond 23 podcast: “Whoever they pick in the opening position has to win the game.
“I think the selectors got it wrong.”
Whether or not you think McSweeney should have been picked in the first place, once he joins the team he should have played all five Tests to prove his worth, otherwise, the sample size is too small.
The latest decision may confuse a “devastated” McSweeney, who wonders what is more important to the selectors – six years of first-class cricket that got him in, or six Test innings that left him out.
Only half of McSweeney’s first six Test innings were anything like what you’d call normal. (AAP: Jono Searle)
The 25-year-old told Seven Network on Saturday: “My dream has come true but it hasn’t gone the way I wanted it to.
“I’m just going to keep my head down, get back on the field, work hard and hopefully be ready for the next opportunity.
“I missed a couple of shots and unfortunately I wasn’t able to take advantage of my chances.”
Bailey said cutting McSweeney “was a difficult decision” but “we remain confident that Nathan has the ability and temperament to succeed at Test level in the future”.
What has Konstas been doing?
With the Sheffield Shield suspended, Sam Constas hit a half-century on his BBL debut. (Getty Images: Matt King/Cricket Australia)
Clark said the selectors should first acknowledge that they “made a mistake in selecting McSweeney,” just to set the record straight.
If the selectors feel that Konstad has performed well enough in the eight first-class matches before the first Test, he should be picked regardless of his age.
Instead, Bailey credited Konstadt’s different “batsing style” as the main reason for his inclusion in the squad, and the teenager appears to have flipped the script, hitting a century in 46 matches for the PM XI and a BBL half-century from 20 balls while playing for Sydney Thunder.
True, both of those at-bats were electrifying, but that tells us nothing about his suitability to face the magic of Bumrah, who had baffled all but Hyde in the first three games.
Australia cannot afford to lose either of the final two Test matches if they are to avoid a fifth straight Border-Gavaskar Trophy defeat and a third straight Test series loss at home to India, a pressure that could cause panic in the team.
Whatever the outcome of this series, there are two Test matches to come, in Sri Lanka in January and February, as well as a Caribbean tour and the mid-year World Test Championship final. Then there is a gap before the 2025/26 Ashes, when Australia will be bidding for a fifth consecutive Ashes title, begins in late November.
Sometime there, or soon after, Australia’s Test team may be radically restructured.
McSweeney’s average is 14.4 but he still has a higher score than Khawaja in the first three Test matches against India. (Getty Images: Robert Cianfron)
People are tired of discussing this topic, but of the 12 players Australia have used so far in this series, only McSweeney, Head, Labuschagne, Alex Carey and Pat Cummins will be under 35 by the end of the Ashes series.
Khawaja will be 39 soon and Clarke pondered why the selectors would go for a younger player if they wanted to drop an out-of-form opener.
He said: “Ussi hasn’t made any progress – he’s a senior player.
“Except for Nathan McSweeney, all of them are over 30, some in their 30s.
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“What happens if Usman Khawaja retires in two Test matches? Will McSweeney come back? Or will he drop to the back of the team?”
It’s a reasonable question considering how many hitters have come and gone in the past decade.
Bancroft and Harris should be happy to reach double figures; Aaron Finch (5), Alex Doolan (4), Nick Maddinson (3), Curtis Patterson (2), Hilton Cartwright (2) and Callum Ferguson (1) were not so lucky.
We think there are longer term plans this time around, but if Konstad misses Boxing Day, the Sydney Cricket Ground and the Galle game, will he still face West Indies there? And then who will face the first game of the Perth Ashes is anyone’s guess.
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