Australian great Adam Gilchrist feels Nathan McSweeney can break the mould, David Warner feels the emerging star is a great fit to replace him as opener and Kerry O’Keeffe is impressed with the South Australian’s patience at the crease.
With national selectors to meet during the Australia A versus India A match at the MCG beginning on Thursday to decide who will replace Warner, the deeds of McSweeney over the past month have identified him as the nation’s next opener.
While Warner raised some eyebrows when nominating himself as the man to take the role last month, the Fox Cricket expert analysis said at the MCG on Monday that he had been really impressed with the manner with which McSweeney is batting.
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McSweeney stars for Aus on dramatic day | 01:43
Warner, who noted Cameron Green will leave a hole in the batting order, loves the way Sam Konstas started the summer and said he is an opener of the future but feels the maturing McSweeney is the man for the job in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
“I know there’s been a lot of commentary around Sam Konstas opening the batting. Yes, he is young and he did get those hundreds, the back-to-back hundreds. But I also think that McSweeney batting up top of the order will be a good fit,” he told foxsports.com.au.
“For Usman, it potentially could be his last year — he might keep going — but I think Sam would be a good replacement for Ussie. He might go back (to the Shield) and have another six months. But if an injury was to happen at the top, he might get that opportunity. And then you’ve also got to think (that) Cameron Green is (going) to come back into the lineup, right?
“So I think when you look at picking your top batting order, your top six, top seven, you know Cameron Green’s in that. Whether or not he goes back into four is another conversation.
“But putting McSweeney at the top of the order would be a great look and a great fit for him. (He is a) potential leader in the future as well. He does captain South Australia, which is a bonus, and he is captaining Australia A, so that experience for him … is fantastic.”
McSweeney smacks 28 in an over to ton up | 01:02
Gilchrist said he had generally believed specialist openers should be chosen given their experience fashioning a career through domestic cricket, but he noted Justin Langer had excelled when switching to the top of the order and likes what he has seen from McSweeney.
After top-scoring for Australia A in tricky conditions in the first innings with 39 from 131 balls, which is more than double the number of deliveries any of his teammates faced, the 25-year-old made an unbeaten 88 not out to lead the side to a seven-wicket triumph.
“Like most people, I can’t quite settle on who I think should be in there. I generally always thought that you don’t manufacture openers. They are what they are, and they’ve come through their cricketing progression in that position and churn out runs in Shield cricket,” Gilchrist said on Monday.
“But Nathan McSweeney has put his hand up. Justin Langer wasn’t an opener, but all of a sudden he got an opportunity, and then he carved out an amazing career as an opener.
“Maybe the mould is there to be broken and McSweeney might be the one. He looks like a calm young man. He’s got great respect from his peers and and the authority above seemed to hold him in high regard, so it seems like he might be the frontrunner at the moment.”
Test opener chat heats up! | 06:40
O’Keeffe has kept a close eye on the former Queenslander’s development through the years and said what he found most impressive was his approach to batting, with one aspect in particular standing out — McSweeney, he said, knows how to leave the ball.
The former Australian spinner said while it was clear former Test openers Cam Bancroft and Marcus Harris have worked hard to improve their batting, he is doubtful selectors will opt for the past when considering who should open in Perth against India on November 22.
“I (have) watched a lot of Shield cricket over the last few years, and it had come down to me (that) it was either going to be Sam Konstas or Nathan McSweeney. I didn’t think Australia was going back unless Bancroft or Harris posted something big,” he said.
“Bancroft is a very good player, but he still gets out to good balls. The best openers stay in against the good balls. Cameron is still getting out to them. (And) Marcus Harris is a much improved player. I feel sorry for him. He will probably miss out.
“He is much better through the leg side than he once was, but he still has a problem with balls above his hip. He is flirty outside the off-stump. He gets gloved down the leg side. Will they go to Harry? I don’t think so.
“Sam Konstas has a big pickup. He’s destined to play but he’s still got to put in some yards. It’s not a flawless technique. He’s got great hand eye (co-ordination). Once he gets in, he stays in. That’s been proven throughout his career. He’s got many hundreds. When Sam Konstas is 50 not out, he’s often 100 not out. His time will come.
“McSweeney is the most compact of all the openers. He has a very good square of the wicket game. He picks up length very well. He’s a leaver, and this is a problem with a lot of Australian early order batters. They like to flirt at the ball. Nathan McSweeney’s first instinct is to leave.”
Cummins opens up on opener discussion | 02:45
O’Keeffe likened McSweeney, who has flourished since being tasked with leading Australia A last year, to English great Alastair Cook in terms of the approach he took to batting. While it is less usual in the modern era, he said the South Aussie has the patience to succeed.
“When you look at the great openers we have produced, that was their first instinct. I know in modern cricket, it seems boring, but look at people like Alastair Cook, their favorite shot was the leave,” O’Keeffe said.
“And when I look at Nathan McSweeney (and) I watched him now for two years, he leaves the ball. He bats behind his front shoulder. In a bowler dominated game, he can be the top scorer in both innings. That’s a sign. And he did so in a Shield game, I think, against Tasmania … it was a bowler dominated match. I think he got a hundred and he top-scored in the second innings. That’s a sign.
“When the bowlers have got it all their own way and you fight, and he fought on this pitch in Mackay in both innings, top scored. He’s got leadership in him. I would go McSweeney with Khawaja. I know that’s odd, because he bats three and his best numbers are at four and five in Shield cricket. But he has an openers’ technique.”
