Nevill marches to his own tune on way to rare century

Notwithstanding his extra-curricular career as a guitarist with metal-influenced covers band Seething Heathens, Peter Nevill's defining trait is being seen far more readily than he's heard.

As perhaps the only Test cricketer to have his career ended because he wasn't verbally aggressive towards his opponents, Nevill's keen intellect and ready humour remain a secret kept within his close cohort of family, friends and teammates because he devoutly refuses to sing his own praises.

But in allowing his cricket contributions to talk for themselves, Nevill nonetheless weaves a compelling tale.

Image Id: 3E8BCEB03C7A466788A44F6C32F09005 Image Caption: Nevill will play his 100th Shield game this week // Getty

The most-capped skipper in New South Wales' fabled 129-year Sheffield Shield history.

Just the 13th man to have scored more than 5,000 Shield runs for the Blues.

And the state's second-most prolific wicketkeeper behind another ex-Test gloveman, Phil Emery.

This week, Nevill will make his 100th Shield appearance in NSW colours, joining legendary loyalists Greg Matthews (116), Emery (109) and Geoff Lawson (103) as the only men's players to have notched a century in service of the Blues.

The neat, no-fuss keeper who took two years to break into the strong NSW line-up and played a handful of matches as a specialist top-order batter before the gloves became permanently his, also joins Cricket NSW's 'Hundred Club' alongside some of the game's greatest names.

Among his fellow coterie members to have played 100 or more first-class or WNCL matches are the Waugh brothers (Stephen and Mark), Michael Bevan, Doug Walters, Lisa Sthalekar, Alex Blackwell and Leah Poulton.

Nevill clearly remembers attending a post-game function at the SCG years ago where framed portraits were presented to a clutch of 'Hundred Club' members, and concedes it didn't cross his mind he might one day earn his own.

Image Id: 6140757A2E684B199F8D3A62A37C0D20 Image Caption: Nevill captained NSW 43 times in Shield cricket // Getty

"I think everyone had a bit of a buzz that day, it's sort of rarefied air when you get those kind of people in one place together and you get to float around the room, have a chat and pick their brains," Nevill told cricket.com.au.

"At that point I certainly wasn't thinking about emulating that, but as you get a bit closer you start to think 'hang on, I'm actually on the verge of playing a hundred games for my state here and there's not many people who've been able to do that'."

Nevill's milestone arrives with neat symmetry, on his adopted Sydney home turf against the same team (Victoria) he debuted against as a 23-year-old in February 2009.

The occasion also carries deep symbolism, given Melbourne-born Nevill was a product of Victoria's junior programs and starred as their leading run-scorer at the 2002-03 national under-17 championships in a team that also included current Australia limited-overs captain Aaron Finch.

But even though Nevill's most notable innings at that carnival came against NSW – and opponents the likes of future Test players David Warner, Moises Henriques and John Hastings – it wasn't until several years later that the first overtures came from north of the Murray.

It was his performance keeping to another group of future Australia quicks (Dirk Nannes, Clint McKay and Andrew McDonald) in a second XI game between Victoria and NSW at Glen Waverley in Melbourne in early 2006 that put him on the Blues' radar.

Not that he was initially targeted as keeper for the state's first XI, where Brad Haddin was firmly ensconced with Daniel Smith his preferred understudy for games when Haddin was filling in for Adam Gilchrist at national level.

Image Id: B720901CCADE4003BD8C8C6ECABCD489 Image Caption: Nevill moved to Sydney from Melbourne // Getty

Rather, it was Haddin's Sydney grade club Eastern Suburbs that needed a back-up gloveman and one of the NSW team officials at that second XI game was sufficiently impressed with Nevill's work to recommend him.

The chase was duly taken up by Easts' then-president Pete Lovitt, who was so persuasive in his pitch that he remains Nevill's Sydney-based agent.

There were other equally influential factors at play, not least of which was the cascade of dominoes triggered by Gilchrist's retirement in 2008, at which point Tim Paine was identified as next in line to Haddin, prompting Tasmania's Matthew Wade to move to Melbourne in search of opportunities.

With Wade, Adam Crosthwaite and relocated New South Welshman Nathan Pilon competing for the keeper's role with Victoria, and having been the last player to earn a contract for what was to be a second rookie season with the Vics, Nevill read the play and looked elsewhere.

"I was determined to make the move somewhere ... I just wasn't sure where," Nevill recalled, noting Victoria were fully supportive of his decision that was also championed by then NSW (now Australia women's coach) Matthew Mott.

"I made the decision to move up to Sydney and was subsequently given a full contract, so it actually worked out really well.

"I imagine I would have been pulling beers or making coffees otherwise, so it was really fortunate I could get up there and dedicate my whole time to trying to improve myself as a cricketer and play first-class cricket.

"I'm really glad it all transpired in the end because I can't imagine not living in Sydney and not meeting my wife (Sammy), and all the wonderful things that wouldn't have happened otherwise if I'd moved elsewhere.

Image Id: 87E48C7AB8ED4C85ABA81CF98E140BF4 Image Caption: Nevill and wife Sam // Getty

"It's not often that somebody gets recruited to New South Wales from outside the state.

"I think it was Simon Katich (from Western Australia), then me and then Ryan Carters (Victoria) and we were the only ones in a ten-year period there who ended up joining the Blues.

"So it was unlikely from the start, but I'm very glad it came about."

Nevill settled into his new role at Eastern Suburbs where he established a close bond with Haddin, with the NSW and Australia keeper happy to occupy first slip alongside the team's new recruit on his rare appearances at club level.

It was Haddin's inclusion in Australia's ODI outfit for a series against New Zealand in early 2009 that led to Nevill's first-class debut, and since that day almost 12 years ago only Tasmania's Alex Doolan (103) has managed more Sheffield Shield matches.

And no NSW batter has scored more Shield runs.

Greg Mail, a teammate of Nevill's in his debut game and now Cricket NSW's Head of Cricket, believes the characteristics that set Nevill apart at the outset remain his defining features today.

"He turned up here without a contract, but he was willing to work hard and didn't have any entitlement or expectation as to where he was," Mail told cricket.com.au.

Image Id: DC9DFA09789B4AFA8CF7916ACD01E225 Image Caption: Nevill has been one of NSW's most reliable players // Getty

"It's something that, in addition to being my first impression, I still see as one of his strongest traits.

"He's so humble, and right through his career - even the times he was in the Test team - he's always been very understated.

"His standards are so high, he's so professional, plus he hasn't had extended periods of time when he hasn't contributed with the bat in addition to having some real purple patches.

"So his record really stacks up, and it's an extraordinary achievement."

Nevill concedes he had to work "bloody hard" on his batting despite his under-age credentials, having begun his Shield tenure at No.9 in a team that featured future Test star Usman Khawaja at six and prolific Premier Cricket opener Grant Lambert at seven.

But he always maintained strong faith in his keeping skills as he and Smith fought for the role in Haddin's regular absence, and when he snared six catches in an innings against Tasmania in only his third Shield match – followed by a maiden century against SA a week later – the position became his.

That also signalled the start of his partnership with seamer Trent Copeland, which has blossomed to the point where 'c Nevill b Copeland' is now the most productive union between a bowler and fielder in NSW's star-studded Shield history.

Image Id: 0DFA6954060B46C0A08BF87D0462101C Image Caption: Copeland and Nevill have combined for 66 dismissals with the Blues // Getty

Unfortunately, Copeland will be missing from his mate's century celebration due to the plantaris injury he sustained in last week's Shield match at the MCG, but he is deeply appreciative of Nevill's glovework that has completed 66 dismissals for the pair to this point of their respective careers.

The next-most potent pairing for the Blues in Shield cricket is Haddin and Stuart Clark, who teamed up for 49 victims.

"We play so many of our games at grounds like the SCG that isn't conducive necessarily to massive seam movement or beautiful carry like on pitches at the Gabba or the WACA," Copeland told cricket.com.au.

"It's largely low, inconsistent bounce which means balls are being taken more regularly around the ankles.

"So my reflection and appreciation of Nev is pure keeping technique and the difficulty he's faced in his career through largely playing on the SCG, Bankstown and Drummoyne, those sorts of wickets.

"But then on top of his longevity and the pressure that comes with captaining the great state of New South Wales, there's the runs he's scored.

"He's one of the more traditional, old-style batters with a game built on a solid foundation, a good forward defence that's held him in good stead and he's been the asset that's helped us play the right team balance to be successful for a long period.

"All the best teams in the world talk about not just having an elite keeper, but someone that can churn out hundreds more often than not.

"It really is such a luxury, which means we've been very lucky."

As someone who slavishly lines up his bowling boots before each session of play and religiously fits his left shoe before his right, Copeland also recognises a fellow fusspot when it comes to the finer details of dress and decorum.

"If any of our New South Wales team were to describe Nev, it would be to say there's not a single strap out of place, no sign of anything unplanned which includes the way he folds his pants underneath his wicketkeeping pads," Copeland said.

"It's meticulous."

There's also the inclusion of a solitary stumping among the pair's 66 dismissals - the removal of SA's Tom Cooper during a Shield game at the SCG in 2017, which prompts mental pictures of a slick leg-slide take as a bewildered batter over-balanced as part of a carefully hatched and executed set play.

Unlike ex-Australia quick Glenn McGrath who still laughingly refuses to acknowledge the stumping Gilchrist executed off him in Wellington in 2005, Copeland happily acknowledges his 'friendlier' pace combined with Sydney's slower pitches saw Nevill regularly up at the stumps to his bowling.

And while confirming it happened because "I'll take any wicket I can get", Copeland self-mockingly adds the reason it's only occurred once is due to his raw speed that makes it too difficult for a keeper to take up a position usually seen when spinners are operating.

Sadly for Copeland, Nevill's recall is as sharp as his glovework and he further devalues the tale by revealing it was more a Keystone Cops moment than a triumph of quicksilver keeping.

"It was one of those stumpings when you receive the ball, ten-pin bowl it at the stumps and Coops dropped his bat," he said of the dismissal that came about with Cooper batting out of his crease to try and negate Copeland's swing.

"If he'd hung on to his bat, he would have easily placed it back in his crease but it ended up being a comedy of errors."

And it's precisely that propensity of Nevill's to downplay rather than upbraid that's cited for the premature termination of his 17-match Test tenure five years ago.

Having earned his Baggy Green cap under difficult circumstances during the 2015 Ashes campaign in the UK – he replaced his close friend Haddin, who withdrew from the Lord's Test due to the ill health of his daughter (Mia) and never regained his place – Nevill's elevation coincided with an era of tumult.

While the Ashes loss was followed by series wins against New Zealand and the West Indies, Australia then embarked on a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka that yielded three consecutive Test defeats and then further calamity when they lost the first two matches of the 2016-17 home summer to South Africa.

In the radical revamp that followed the second Test at Hobart – which included the resignation of then selection chair Rod Marsh – Nevill was dumped in favour of Wade, who was seen as a more vocal, combative on-field presence.

While new chair Trevor Hohns responded to questions about Wade's inclusion being character-based with a non-committal "that's fair comment", his fellow selector Greg Chappell recently confirmed the decision was made because Wade was the alternative keeper with "the most mongrel".

"Whatever that means," Chappell wrote in his new book Not Out, in which he revealed his distaste for selecting a Test team on such criteria.

"Wicketkeepers are very important parts of a team. But not for their yapping, rather for their ability and commitment."

Image Id: A286504CBE1740F5ABAF5EF0C4C49CF4 Image Caption: Nevill was replaced in the Test side by Matthew Wade // Getty

Nevill has never sought nor received any additional explanation beyond Hohns's initial pronouncement he'd been dropped, but in true statesman style points to his diminished batting return (143 runs at 15.89 in his final 10 Test innings) as justifiable reason for his axing.

"Frankly, I didn't need any more clarity," he said in explaining why he's never sought more detail on the "mongrel" rationale.

"You can judge by numbers and make a good case for inclusion or exclusion based on that, and my batting output didn't warrant remaining in the Test side in my opinion.

"You can't complain.

"If you haven't got a solid record to point to and say, 'this is my output', then you don't really have a leg to stand on."

There are others who take a less philosophical view, among them Mail who qualifies his response by declaring he wasn't privy to confirmation that Nevill's persona was a factor in the selectors' decision.

"If that was the reason he was left out of the Test team, then I think that's crazy," Mail said.

"That doesn't make sense to me."

Image Id: B6F0E6CEC6CC434F90822F376BF87995 Image Caption: Nevill scored a half-century in the 2016 Perth Test but was dropped soon after // Getty

And while noting that old-school thinking has seemingly passed with Paine's installation as keeper and captain, Copeland – whose Test career was also limited to three appearances at an earlier time of selection uncertainty – clearly finds it difficult to reconcile.

"I think if you ask most of the bowlers, Nev does as good a job as anyone ... and that's not detracting anything from Wadey, or the other guys that have played in that role since," Copeland said, adding his unequivocal belief his long-time teammate should have played more Test cricket.

"But Nev's been alongside, if not better than most keepers in domestic cricket for a long time and that's without sledging or getting in people's faces.

"It's just by doing the business."

With Paine nearing the end of his Test playing days and in the early stages of his comeback to playing after recent neck surgery, debate has raged about who the selectors might ordain as Australia's next number one keeper.

And while the field is widely considered to be SA's Alex Carey, Queensland's Jimmy Peirson and WA's Josh Inglis, Nevill admits he hasn't abandoned all hope of a Test recall.

"I don't think while you're playing you ever really do let it go," he said.

"There's been crazier things happen in the world of cricket than people getting selected out of nowhere, so you just never know."

Image Id: B5E5C25496E34FEDA074CDA086BA37BD Image Caption: Nevill played 17 Tests between 2015 and 2016 // Getty

Asked if Paine's reinstatement for the 2017-18 Ashes after seven year's absence – despite being a year older, having played fewer first-class matches (76 v 80) for less dismissals (250 v 286) and a lower batting average (28 v 41) with nine less hundreds than Nevill – was one of those "crazier things", Nevill pauses.

"Yeah, I do remember that one," he says before more silence ensues.

Even with two young children at home, Nevill has no immediate plans to call time on his top-level playing days.

He claims both his fitness and his enthusiasm remain undimmed, and by relinquishing the NSW captaincy to Kurtis Patterson he's been able to clear his mind of some of the peripheral concerns that accompany leadership and focus on helping younger members of the Blues squad.

Not that he necessarily sees his record of 43 Shield matches as NSW skipper – putting him ahead of the state's previously most-capped leaders Dirk Wellham (40), Katich and Rick McCosker (38) – as emphatic endorsement of his qualities as a leader of men.

"It was something I'd done full-time for probably three seasons," he said of his captaincy credentials.

"But I was also the 'in case of emergency, break glass' captain when we had Michael Clarke, Steve Smith, Moises (Henriques) and various other guys who would miss games here and there due to national selection.

"So I was able to step into the breach and keep things held together in their absence."

Image Id: 1722827DE3E04923820D23A9F8082B67 Image Caption: Nevill took over from Haddin during the 2015 Ashes // Getty

Having previously cited Nevill's humility as a defining feature, Mail is happy to provide more nuanced endorsement of NSW's most-capped Shield captain.

"He's just such a good role model for our young players," Mail said.

"He works hard off the field, with his studies (Nevill is currently two-thirds of the way through a Master's degree in Financial Planning), he's very committed to his family and he's just a fantastic for our group.

"There's been his enormous contribution on the field, but he's had a huge influence off the field as well and I think that's probably where his legacy at NSW will stand the test of time."

Despite the slightly surreal circumstances that ended his Test tenure, Nevill looks at a career that has thus far yielded two Shield titles, as many Marsh One Day Cup crowns and a KFC BBL triumph with the Sydney Sixers in 2012 and surmises he holds no regrets.

Oh, except that one from Perth in 2015.

As WA pair Cameron Bancroft and Michael Klinger ground NSW into the WACA dust during a Shield innings that stretched beyond 206 overs, Nevill handed his keeping gloves and pads to Carters and sent down the one and only over at first-class level.

Image Id: 0A29D7BA398B4D5D9C7A6D8DEB677FBE Image Caption: Nevill holds no ill feeling about how his Test career ended // Getty

"I bowled some off breaks, and I had to take all the tape off my fingers," he dryly recalls of that wicketless six-ball spell that cost eight runs.

"So I maintain there was a bit of sticky residue on my fingers which caused me to drag them all down, otherwise I'm sure I would have flighted and landed them perfectly."

Otherwise, his 'what ifs' are limited to the path the Seething Heathens ("I didn't come up with the name, but bands are democracies") might have forged had the COVID-19 pandemic not put paid to the live music scene throughout Sydney, and around the world.

"We only played probably once a year, because we have the same crowd turn up to see us which means we need a new set list every time and that takes a while to learn," Nevill said of his unlikely side hustle.

"Having some venues open up again, and having restrictions eased to the point where we can try and find somewhere that hosts live music will be nice, because unfortunately that sector's been hit hard and a lot of former venues haven't made it through.

"So maybe that will happen in a year or two's time ... when we've learned a new set."