Mature McSweeney making his mark in South Australia

But McSweeney, 25, finds himself in a very unusual position in Australian cricket. Historically, it has been the prodigious batting talents who are initially fast-tracked and later moulded into leaders once established as players.

In McSweeney’s case, he has been fast-tracked as a leader without yet having established himself as a first-class batter. When he first captained Australia A against New Zealand A, he was averaging just 28.17 in first-class cricket. He has since captained Australia A three times and the Prime Minister’s XI once, as well as the Brisbane Heat to a BBL title.

Unusually, when McSweeney walks out for the toss for South Australia at Cricket Central in Sydney on Tuesday it will be the first time he has captained a Sheffield Shield team, after being handed the full-time captaincy during the off-season.

But his batting is beginning to match his standing, having been South Australia’s best batter last summer scoring 762 runs at 40.10, including three centuries. Only three players in the competition scored more runs for the season.

McSweeney knows that is just the beginning if he wants to progress to the next level, and he’s looking at a West Australian rival as the blueprint.

“I think the next step for me is trying to model Cam Bancroft and just keep being consistent in Shield cricket,” McSweeney told ESPNCricinfo.

“The way he’s been able to do it, year on end is really impressive. I’m just going to keep trying to learn about my game and continue to get better. And hopefully that translates to consistently spending a lot of time in the middle and putting South Australia in a great position to win games of cricket. And that’s about as far probably as I need to think. Obviously, I’d love to play for Australia. I grew up dreaming of the baggy green. I think my best way to do that is by banging the door down, by making big runs.”

Big runs means big scores. That is one thing McSweeney has identified as a key area of improvement from the early part of his career.

“The sky’s the limit for him, I think. He’s obviously got a little bit of work to do, as most players do at his age and where he’s at. But the improvement from two years ago to last year, he was excellent last year. If you ask him, he still probably would say he didn’t make enough runs. That’s the person he is. He wants to play Test cricket.

South Australia coach Ryan Harris on his captain Nathan McSweeney

Getting started in Shield cricket at the moment is a challenge every top order player is grappling with given the bowling friendly nature of a lot of the pitches. Cashing in once set though is what separates the great from the good. Despite making five Shield hundreds, including the three last summer, McSweeney’s highest score is 118.

“I think good players can definitely make big hundreds consistently, and something that I haven’t been able to do yet,” McSweeney said. “So hopefully, I keep being hungry and keep being as clear as possible.

“My batting coach always said, once you get to 100 try and make 50 for next week and the week after. Hopefully if I can get in that position again this year I can keep doing the same thing that got me there and make a big score, because one, they set up your team really well, and can often, if you make a big score, win you the game.”

“Marnus has been great for me,” McSweeney said. “His phone’s always on, and someone who took me under his wing when I was up there. He’s almost like a dictionary for cricket as well. He watches that much.”

Like Labuschagne, McSweeney isn’t keen to shirk the challenge of the new ball. He is locked in to bat at No.3 for South Australia moving forward, a position they have struggled to fill since Callum Ferguson retired.

“He’s going to grab that bull by the horns and wants to make his,” Harris told ESPNCricinfo. “That’s the sort of person he is. He won’t show away from a challenge. It is one of the hardest places to bat.

“The sky’s the limit for him, I think. He’s obviously got a little bit of work to do, as most players do at his age and where he’s at. But the improvement from two years ago to last year, he was excellent last year. If you ask him, he still probably would say he didn’t make enough runs. That’s the person he is. He wants to play Test cricket. He wants to play at the highest level. He wants to play all forms of cricket.”

McSweeney’s leadership is less of a work in progress. Very few captains are the finished article at 25, having never led a Shield team full-time, but McSweeney continues to impress all who work with him.

“The group have got utmost respect for him and want to play for him,” Harris said. “I think that’s important. The dealings I’ve had with him so far this year have been excellent in terms of our cultural stuff, all the way through to checking in with the players, to selection for our first squads. He’s quite mature.”

McSweeney has been very impressed with the start Harris has made as coach. He’s also identified that tactics are only a very small part of being a modern captain. McSweeney said he learned an enormous amount from Voges in terms of tactical nous in their short time together.

“Just never letting the game drift, and just always having a plan for a certain batter,” McSweeney said.

But the fly-in-fly-out nature of captaining A sides is different to leading a state program, which Harris has already shown him requires a lot more relationship building and emotional intelligence.

“We did a session all together with a psychologist the other day about emotional intelligence and trying to work out each other’s triggers,” McSweeney said. “I think that stuff I haven’t really thought about heaps in the past. I felt like I’ve been a good captain, understanding tactics of the game, but that’s a real side of leadership and captaincy I think I can grow.

“To understand bowlers and how they are emotionally in pressure moments so I can give them the words they need to hear to be able to get the job done. It’s definitely something to work on and something I’ll tap into throughout the year.”

It may have already had a positive impact. McSweeney and his bowlers orchestrated a stunning victory over WA in the first One-Day Cup game of the year, successfully defending 166 after WA had reached 133 for 3 in the 26th over.

The runs didn’t come in that season opener for McSweeney, sawn-off for a duck to a debatable lbw decision. But if the runs do come early in the season, his stocks will continue to rise, and his name will become familiar very quickly.