Nathan McSweeney has catapulted himself into the Test conversation after top-scoring in both innings of Australia A’s win over India A in Mackay, but his lack of experience against the new ball stands in his way of a coveted baggy green.
The South Australian notched 39 and 88* during the seven-wicket victory at Great Barrier Reef Arena, further pressing his case for a Test debut at Perth Stadium later this month.
Fellow Test hopefuls Cameron Bancroft, Sam Konstas and Marcus Harris were considered the leading candidates to replace Cameron Green in the Test side when the vacancy opened up last month, but the trio’s lack of runs has heavily damaged their chances of a national call-up.
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While the three specialist openers looked scratchy throughout their short stays at the crease in Mackay this week, McSweeney maintained discipline and control across 309 deliveries in a near-perfect performance against India A.
Although he’s never opened the batting at first-class level, the 25-year-old looks more than capable of facing the swinging Kookaburra against India this summer. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Bancroft, Harris and Konstas.
Since the start of last summer, McSweeney has compiled 1276 runs at 49.07 at first-class level, predominantly batting at No. 3 and No. 4 for South Australia in the Sheffield Shield.
The right-hander started his 2024/25 Sheffield Shield campaign with scores of 55, 127*, 37 and 72, with his unbeaten fourth-innings century at Cricket Central rescuing South Australia from the jaws of defeat against New South Wales.
“I think I’m playing pretty well at the moment,” McSweeney told reporters in the post-match press conference on Sunday.
“I’m really confident in my game. I’m progressing and I’m batting some of the best innings I’ve played.
“Hopefully I can continue to learn and get better. If the opportunity comes, I feel like I’m ready. If it doesn’t, I’ll keep working hard and hope that one day I get that call-up.”
McSweeney started his professional career in Queensland, playing five Sheffield Shield matches for the Bulls before moving to South Australia in 2021 in pursuit of more opportunities.
Across his first two seasons with the Redbacks, McSweeney accumulated 663 Sheffield Shield runs at 34.89 – modest numbers at best – but a breakout summer in 2023/24 changed the trajectory of his career.
After earning a maiden Australia A call-up in March 2023, he captained the Prime Minister’s XI during last summer’s match against Pakistan and led the Brisbane Heat to glory in the Big Bash League. He was appointed as South Australia’s new skipper ahead of the 2024/25 season, with national selectors also identifying his leadership qualities by handing him the Australia A captaincy.
McSweeney’s recent success for South Australia and Australia A has prompted calls, including from former captains Ricky Ponting and Mark Taylor, for an international debut during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Even if he doesn’t make his debut in Perth, he will almost certainly feature in the extended squad,
However, although McSweeney won the Mackay ‘bat-off’, that doesn’t guarantee Test selection, according to Australian captain Pat Cummins.
“I think it’s like a final bit of information,” Cummins told reporters at he MCG on Sunday.
“It’s never as clean cut as a ‘bat-off’. Some of these guys have only played a few games of Shield cricket, and then you’ve got other guys who have played over a decade.
“That last couple of weeks, is it really important? It’s got some importance, but it’s not going to guide the 100 per cent of the decision. So it’s that final bit of decision.
“In some regards, it’s a lot of pressure on those last two games, which, whether you like it or not, it’s probably what you’re going to get in Test cricket anyway. So I suppose, again, whoever does get picked, they’ve experienced as much pressure as they might get in a Test debut anyway. So it means they are pretty well placed.”
Several Australian cricketers have successfully transitioned from middle-order batters to openers, including the likes of Simon Katich, Justin Langer and David Boon. More recently, Usman Khawaja reinvented himself as a Test opener in 2022 after spending the majority of his Test career at No. 3 or lower.
But as shown by Steve Smith’s recent opening experiment, facing the new ball is no easy task.
However, Cummins suggested McSweeney’s lack of experience against the new ball may not be an issue, reiterating that Australia would choose the nation’s six best batters for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“Where you bat isn’t that important,“ Cummins continued.
“You try and work out how the batting order as a whole is going to function best. I don’t think anyone should be super protective around a certain spot on that.”
National selectors may be tempted to elevate McSweeney to opener for the second Australia A match against India A at the MCG to see how he’d fare against the new ball. However, Harris and Bancroft would understandably feel hard done by if they weren’t picked for the Melbourne clash.
Alternatively, incumbent No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne could be promoted to opener for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, allowing McSweeney to bat at his preferred position at first drop.
Labuschagne has “openingitis” according to Queensland teammate Khawaja, but the 30-year-old recently declared he was prepared to open against India if “that’s best for the team”. The right-hander opened the batting for Glamorgan in the County Championship earlier this year, compiling scores of 23 and 111 against Middlesex in Cardiff.
“You could do,” Cummins responded when asked about the prospect of Labuschagne opening this summer.
“Again, maybe once we kind of start discussing who’s in the side, then you start looking at the batting order.”
The second match between Australia A and India A gets underway at the MCG on Thursday.
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