Less than 24 months after he was dumped from Victoria’s contract list, South Australian opener Mackenzie Harvey will lock horns with his former teammates during this weekend’s one-day cup final in Adelaide.
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After a lean 2022/23 Marsh Cup campaign, where he accumulated 71 runs at 17.75, Harvey lost his state contract with Victoria and spent the 2023/24 summer playing grade cricket with Carlton.
However, Harvey was lured to South Australia in April 2024 and penned a two-year deal with the state – a move that quickly paid dividends.
The 24-year-old, nephew of former Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey, ended the one-day cup’s regular season as the competition’s leading run-scorer with 311 runs at 62.20 a strike rate of 106.14. He clobbered his maiden List A hundred in November, an unbeaten 134 from 110 balls against Victoria at Karen Rolton Oval, before smacking a second century against Tasmania last week, his 129 (118) against Tasmania at Adelaide Oval.
“The move over was something that I definitely needed to do,” Harvey told reporters this week.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity South Australia have given me.
“I think when you’re stuck in the same ways, there’s sometimes where you just need to get out of it and start afresh, so when the opportunity came up, I was pretty quick to jump onto it.
“Now, being in South Australia and enjoying my cricket and being around everyone here has been great.
“If I can do my job out in the middle and put our side in the best position possible, that’s all I really care about and the runs on top of that is just a bonus.”
Harvey helped South Australia, who haven’t won a one-day cup title since the 2011/12 summer, top the standings to earn hosting rights for Saturday’s final against Victoria at Adelaide Oval.
“It should be fun,’’ Harvey said of the looming decider.
“I never thought I’d be in this position, but I got a taste of (playing against Victoria) earlier in the season and it would be nice to get one over them this weekend.”
He continued: “Coming from Victoria, I know what the rivalry is like between the two states.
“There might be some words exchanged here and there but it will all be a bit of fun because I’m pretty good mates with all of their players.
“Being over there for so many years you build relationships and you don’t lose those when you move states.’’
Most runs in the 2024/25 One-Day Cup
Mackenzie Harvey (SA) – 311 runs at 62.20
Matthew Renshaw (QLD) – 305 runs at 50.83
Matthew Gilkes (NSW) – 302 runs at 50.33
Lachie Hearne (QLD) – 277 runs at 46.16
The former Australia under-19 captain, who has yet to make his first-class debut, confessed he didn’t know whether playing against his ex-teammates would be a disadvantage or not.
“It can be an advantage but it can also be a little bit of a downfall, expecting certain things to happen,’’ Harvey said.
“So while it’s nice to know mainly what they do, at the end of the day they are just other bowlers coming down at me and they all have good balls in them, like every other bowler in the country.
“So it’s just about respecting everything they throw at us. I’ll just try to do my job out in the middle and try to put us in the best position possible to win some silverware.’’
Meanwhile, Harvey’s 50-over heroics may have caught the attention of rival Big Bash League clubs ahead of the 15th edition of the T20 tournament. The left-hander has been part of the Melbourne Renegades for six years, playing 45 matches for the Melbourne-based franchise since his BBL debut aged 17 in 2018, when he helped the men in red win their maiden title.
However, he is currently out-of-contract with the Renegades having managed 45 runs at 11.25 with a strike rate of 95.74 this summer.
The Renegades have left little wriggle room in their roster after the club signed seamer Jason Behrendorff, quick Brendan Doggett and batter Caleb Jewell during the BBL’s inaugural post-season Player Movement Window.
Joining Harvey in South Australia’s squad for the one-day cup final is all-rounder Liam Scott, who this week was named One-Day Cup Player of the Year following a breakout campaign.
Across five matches, the 24-year-old scored 142 runs at 47.33 and took six wickets at 18.66, maintaining an economy rate of 3.29. He was named player of the match following this month’s clash against Western Australia at the WACA, top-scoring for the tourists with a 68-ball 47 and taking 3-16 in a 44-run triumph over the reigning champions.
Meanwhile, Victoria’s squad is headlined by Australian representatives Will Sutherland, Scott Boland, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris,
Todd Murphy and Peter Siddle.
The one-day cup final between South Australia and Victoria gets underway on Saturday at 2.35pm AEDT.
South Australia’s one-day cup final squad
Nathan McSweeney (C), Jordan Buckingham, Brendan Doggett, Daniel Drew, Mackenzie Harvey, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton
Victoria’s one-day cup final squad
Will Sutherland (C), Scott Boland , Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Oliver Peake, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle
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