Nathan McSweeney will be spearheading Australia A for the first time in Lincoln on Saturday and will be uplifted by the fact that he already shares a pretty strong bond with the venue. Both the four-day Test matches between Australia A and New Zealand A will be played at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, a short drive from Christchurch.
Throwing in a bit of context to his earlier memories of Lincoln, McSweeney blasted 156 against Papua New Guinea five years from now which still remains the highest men’s 50-over score at the ground. And now that he is being handed over the reins of the Australia A team, McSweeney told the press that it feels good to be back.
Here is what Nathan McSweeney had to say about his opportunity to captain Australia A
Talking to Cricket.Com.au, McSweeney said, “That was a while ago now but it’s definitely good to be back. It’ll be a different ballgame; an Under-19 World Cup will be a bit different to a Dukes ball game against an international side. I’m just excited and can’t wait.”
Labelled as one of the most prolific batters in the side, the 24-year-old has already racked up numbers as good as 776 runs across the Sheffield Shield and Marsh One Day Cup. In fact, such was his proficiency that even George Bailey chose to call him up ahead of the Marsh Cup finale.
Nathan McSweeney shares a quick anecdote about his relationship with his co-captain, Aaron Hardie
Talking about the follow-up call from Australia A coach, Andre Borovec, McSweeney said, “I definitely wasn’t expecting that. I’m lucky there’s plenty of guys here that I’ve played with before and some older heads like Jimmy Peirson and Matt Renshaw who I’ve got a good relationship with and have played plenty cricket with as well.”
He also shed some light about his partnership with his co-captain, Aaron Hardie, adding, “Myself and (Hardie) are the same age. We’ve never actually played together … (but) we have a good relationship. If we can share the load and learn from each other, we’ll be fine.”
Here are the squads for Australia A vs New Zealand A
Australia A squad: Wes Agar, Xavier Bartlett, Jordan Buckingham, Aaron Hardie, Caleb Jewell, Spencer Johnson, Campbell Kellaway, Nathan McSweeney, Mitch Perry, Jimmy Pierson, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Tim Ward, Teague Wyllie
New Zealand A squad: Tom Bruce (c), Adi Ashok, Doug Bracewell, Henry Cooper, Jacob Duffy (Game 1 only), Dean Foxcroft, Cam Fletcher, Mitch Hay, Scott Kuggeleijn (Game 2 only), Cole McConchie, Robbie O’Donnell, Will O’Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Brett Randell, Sean Solia
