Melbourne [Australia], December 31 (ANI): Axed from the squad, Nathan McSweeney is open to becoming a long-term replacement for Usman Khawaja in Australia’s Test fold.
McSweeney, for the first time in his career, had the taste to open for Australia during the first three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.
While Australia is still pondering on the right prospect to replace its legend David Warner, they could soon face another challenge when Khawaja decides to have his swansong.
With Khawaja, 38, hinting at Ashes being the ideal setting to have his last dance, McSweeney has raised his hand to fill the role when the moment arrives.
“I’d love to, there’s no doubt about that. Ussie has been awesome, but when the opportunity comes – or if it does – I would love to do that. I haven’t had heaps of time to think about it, to be honest, it all kind of happened fairly quickly, and then I was back here playing T20 cricket,” McSweeney said, as quoted from The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Those conversations will be had, and I’ve got to work out and speak with the selectors about where my opportunity may come and what I need to do to get back there. I’m flexible to bat wherever and wherever I see my role to, hopefully, one day again play Test cricket,” he added.
The 25-year-old had an underwhelming debut run as an opener, which saw him amass just 72 runs to his name in six innings with a mere average of 14.40.
The root cause behind McSweeney’s dreadful run in his maiden series was courtesy of India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. In six innings, Bumrah punched McSweeney’s ticket back to the dressing room four times, with an astonishing average of 3.75.
Considering his lean run with the bat, Australian selectors decided to put their faith in young Sam Konstas for the Boxing Day Test. The introduction of the 19-year-old meant McSweeney had to be dropped from the squad.
McSweeney praised Konstas for the fiery approach he showed against the established Indian pace express. But he also has faith in his quality to return to the national setup with Australia set to tour Sri Lanka in January.
“I think what I’ve done really well over the last couple of years is trusting my game and being able to bat long periods of time is where I’ve been able to make big runs. It’s quite a unique game, and it’s very individual at times,” McSweeney said
“You’ve got your own way to go about it, and he [Konstas] obviously did it really well in that first innings. I think I’ve been able to play spin pretty well here in Australia over the last few years. It’s a fair bit different over there … [but] if I got the nod to go over there, I’d feel really confident in my game against spin,” he added. (ANI)
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