In the lead-up to the crucial five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy against India, Australia’s hunt for a second opener to partner Usman Khawaja aren’t yet over with former World Cup-winning skipper Ricky Ponting now backing Nathan McSweeney to make his debut after his impressive show in the recently-held unofficial Test against India ‘A’.
With the retirement of regular opener David Warner at the start of the year and the return of Steve Smith to his preferred position at No.4, there has been much speculation as to who should get the first opportunity against the new ball when India visit for the crucial ICC World Test Championship series later this month.
Ponting, who had recently said that the Aussies may thrust teenage opener Sam Konstas into the fray and hand the Under 19 star a debut against India, has changed his selection by backing McSweeney, based on his performance on a trying surface in rural Queensland town Mackay.
“I was put on the spot about a week ago, and I sort of immediately went to the young guy, Sam Konstas. He had come off back-to-back hundreds against South Australia. Then I thought a bit more about it and, he is so young and he has probably not even played on grounds like Optus (Perth) Stadium or at The Gabba,” Ponting was quoted as saying by the ICC Review.
“He wouldn’t have played a pink-ball (match) at Adelaide Oval either. So there’s a lot of things that stack up against the young guy, although there’s no doubt that he’s got talent.”
He then went on to explain how the recent performance of McSweeney in the unofficial Test against India A, helped him pip the competitors. Coming in at No.4, McSweeney stabilised the Australia ‘A’ innings with a sturdy 39, after fellow Test hopefuls Konstas (0), Marcus Harris (17) and Cameron Bancroft (0) had fallen cheaply.
Ponting went on to add that McSweeney was an experienced cricketer, having captained the Australia A side, could be a better fit for the opening position.
“Another thing that I’d said then was that I don’t think they’d go back to a (Cameron) Bancroft or (Marcus) Harris because if they’re willing to do that they would’ve done it the last year,” Ponting said.
“So, the only name left for me more or less is Nathan McSweeney, who is Queensland-born now playing for South Australia. He got the most out of any of those guys from the ‘A’ game in Australia at the moment. And he’s more experienced. He has captained Australia A in the past, and he’s captaining them now. So, I’m leaning towards McSweeney now for that opening role at the start of the Australian summer,” he added.
Ponting believed that given his talent, Konstas’ time would come, especially given that Australia’s full-time opener Usman Khawaja (37) might be up for retirement soon.
“And when Khawaja goes in about a year or so, then someone like Konstas has played another season or a half of (Sheffield) Shield cricket (domestic competition in Australia) and he might be ready to come in at the top of the order then,” Ponting said.
The former Australia skipper also believed that this time in domestic cricket would help Konstas work on a few known technical issues, especially his issues with the ball coming in.
“He’s not the only person who has issues with the ball coming back in and the more exposure he gets to that type of bowling, the better off he is going to be. Which kind of backs up my point on McSweeney, maybe he needs 12 months of Shield cricket to face better bowling and play in different conditions and put a stamp on what his technique looks like for international cricket.
“He is a highly talented player, and I’m sure he’ll get his chance to play for Australia,” Ponting noted.