'Eyes wide open': McSweeney's first look at Test attack

It's a measure of Nathan McSweeney's newness to the upper echelons of Australian cricket that he's never before faced his Test captain Pat Cummins, nor fellow quicks Mitchell Starc or Josh Hazlewood in a match.

Despite making his Sheffield Shield debut for Queensland in 2018, and playing his first domestic one-day game for his adopted state South Australia three years later, Australia's newest Test player is yet to cross paths with the 'big three' in a game sceanrio.

As he revealed when named in Australia's squad for this week's opening Border-Gavaskar Trophy Series Test, his only prior encounter was as an 18-year-old deployed as practice fodder in his home town of Brisbane ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes summer.

And there was a BBL match in 2020 when the then 21-year-old was playing for Melbourne Renegades and he negotiated three deliveries from Hazlewood, one of which he scored from.

But that status changed markedly at the WACA Ground today when McSweeney – five days from his Test debut – found himself on a lively centre wicket opposed to Cummins and Starc at full pace, each wielding a brand new Kookaburra ball.

In his first genuine Test of what his newly acquired role of Test opener will look like, McSweeny acquitted himself well in the knowledge a similarly stern task awaits from Friday against an India pace attack led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

"It was a good challenge," McSweeney said today of his half-hour hit-out against the pace pair during which he routinely rotated strike with his opening partner-to-be Usman Khawaja and his predecessor at the top of the order, Steve Smith.

"I got through it unscathed.

"I didn’t put much pressure on them but they bowled really well and (it was) great preparation to face those (India) guys who are quality bowlers."

All three Australia batters found the going tough on a practice pitch that offered bounce and movement, with Khawaja losing his stumps at one stage upon shouldering arms to Starc.

In addition to the fearsome fast bowlers in full flight, McSweeney faced record-breaking off-spinner Nathan Lyon who provided timely preparation for what awaits from India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

Lyon has played against McSweeney in both red and white-ball cricket, most recently in the Shield season opener at Cricket Central last month where the SA skipper produced scores of 55 (run out) and 127no against New South Wales.

"I saw him up close and personal in that Shield game a couple of weeks ago, and we had to run him out to get him out in the game," Lyon said today.

"I thought his tempo was nice. His timing of his movements were in sync, so he's ready.

"He didn't nick any (today) which was really good.

"On a challenging wicket that was doing a fair bit, he walked out and fair to say his eyes were wide open and we just said, ‘welcome to Test cricket.’

"You want to compete against the best guys and, in my opinion, we’re the best bowling attack in the world."

The next phase in McSweeney's evolution from highly credentialled Shield cricketer to Australia Test cap number 467 comes tomorrow when he takes to the practice pitches at Perth Stadium, a venue where he's yet to experience red-ball cricket.

Given Western Australia play their Shield matches at the WACA Ground – where McSweeney averages 29 from six first-class innings with a highest score of 67 – his only experiences at the new stadium across the Swan River is in the BBL.

And while his most fruitful T20 innings in three games there was his innings high-score of 41 from 37 deliveries for Brisbane Heat in the BBL|12 grand final, he carries bitter memories of that game after Cooper Connolly's heroics carried Perth Scorchers to a five-wicket win.

However, he believes his Queensland upbringing and similarly fast, bouncy pitches at the Gabba, as well as four days preparation in Perth to get used to the unique conditions, should hold him on good stead come Friday.

"My Shield career, it’s always been slightly favourable to the bowlers," McSweeney said today, noting his red-ball skills have been honed at a time when bowlers have largely dominated the domestic game.

"In the conditions in Shield cricket, leaving the ball really well, making the bowlers really come to me and spending a lot of time out there and wearing them down and picking them off when they do miss.

"And run hard between the wickets and be busy.

"If I can spend a lot of time out there it’s going to be good for Australia and hopefully put us in a really good position.

"And try and make sure (I) spend some time in the nets and get used to the bounce.

"That’s one thing that’s spoken about a little bit."

If there is some familiarity to be found for the 25-year-old, the only player aged below 30 in the likely Australia starting line-up, it will be the sight of former Queensland and current Heat teammate Khawaja at the other end.

Even though the pair played just one Shield game together (in 2020) before McSweeney's move to SA, and they did not bat together in either innings of that match in Perth, they have been part of numerous squads over the years.

McSweeney acknowledged that while they might not have shared many on-field experiences, they know each other well and he's looking forward to walking on to the Perth Stadium surface with his veteran teammate.

He's also delighted to have his parents, partner and grandfather in attendance for his debut as well as a lot of his cricket mates from both Brisbane and Adelaide.

He accepts some of the media commentary over his elevation to an opening role he's not previously filled prior to the recent match against India A as part of the scrutiny that comes with Test selection.

However Lyon dismissed that talk as a product of "many media outlets out there (with) people who make names … to stay relevant".

McSweeney's current SA teammate and Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey holds no doubt the highly regarded batter will quell any doubters and make a comfortable adjustment to life as a Test cricketer.

"As a character, I can't speak highly enough of him," Carey told cricket.com.au today.

"Very level-headed, he's got the respect of the changeroom, has captained Australia A for three or four games now.

"Just really level in everything he does, every challenge that gets thrown his way he accepts it and succeeds at, so to open the batting for Australia is a new challenge but no doubt he'll do well and find a way to score a lot of runs.

"A great bloke to have in the team, lots of energy.

"He's probably got the same amount of energy and skill level as Marnus (Labuschagne) in the field, but less chat.

"Just a quieter version."

NRMA Insurance Men's Test Series v India

First Test: November 22-26: Perth Stadium, 1.20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 6-10: Adelaide Oval, 3pm AEDT (D/N)

Third Test: December 14-18: The Gabba, Brisbane, 11.20am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: (first Test only) Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed