Cheers all-round as rivals take vastly different paths

As a practitioner of cricket's most demanding skill set, Nathan McAndrew recognises the acumen of a true allrounder when he encounters it.

And that's why, when he finally calls time on his late-blooming career, he'll be happy to recount the story of his first day as an Australian first-class cricketer and how he came to capture the biggest scalp – in stature if not raw ability – in the domestic game.

"I'll be telling people that I nicked him off with a ball that did just enough to beat him," McAndrew joked of his dismissal of Test allrounder Cameron Green on day one of the Marsh Sheffield Shield season in Adelaide.

In truth, McAndrew acknowledges the delivery that accounted for Green after the Western Australian had cruised to his eighth first-class century was strangely fortunate, with the ball flicking the edge of the 22-year-old's broad bat as he attempted to withdraw it.

But McAndrew, who capped his Shield debut for South Australia by playing a role in all four WA wickets to fall, understands how far Green's imposing talent might take him and is thrilled to have his moment of triumph preserved for perpetuity.

Despite some similarities in their on-field roles – hard-hitting batters who can also double as front-line seam bowlers – it's difficult to imagine players taking a more diverse path to their meeting today.

Green's talent was known from adolescence when he forewent Australian rules football in favour of cricket, leading former Australia Test captain (and ex-national talent manager) Greg Chappell to laud him as the best batting prodigy he's seen since Ricky Ponting.

Chappell's summation seemed spot-on after Green began last season with a memorable 197 in a Shield game against New South Wales, and finished the summer as the competition's most prolific runs scorer (922 at 76.83) and the proud owner of a Baggy Green cap.

"He's pretty special," said his usually understated WA captain Shaun Marsh this evening, after the pair had put together a 199-run stand for the third wicket of which Green contributed 106.

"He's a really level-headed kid.

"He's got a great cricket brain and nothing seems to faze him too much.

"He works pretty hard on his game, so to see the success he's had so far is no surprise to me.

"I love playing with him and seeing his development over the last 12 to 18 months, and I'm looking forward to watching him play over a long period of time."

Marsh, who despite starting his 22nd Shield season by scoring his 20th century today has ruled out any thoughts of an Australia recall amid biosecurity bubbles and travel uncertainties, is also amazed at how well his young teammate sums up match situations.

As if being blessed with natural batting and bowling abilities wasn't enough of an all-round gift.

By comparison, 28-year-old McAndrew's road to Shield ranks has been nowhere near as straightforward.

A product of Oak Flat cricket club near Wollongong on New South Wales' south-central coast, McAndrew's journey to first-class cricket took him across the Tasman to play with Auckland in New Zealand's domestic competition.

While plying his dual trade with Bankstown in Sydney Premier Cricket, NSW's bowling coach and former Black Caps allrounder Andre Adams put him in touch with former NZ teammates across the ditch where McAndrew played three first-class games in the summer of 2015-16.

With his taste for top-level cricket whetted, the big-shouldered fast-bowling allrounder returned to Australia and pushed for a place in the Blues star-studded Shield squad but could not crack the starting XI before losing his NSW contract earlier this year.

Despite a growing reputation as a T20 asset with Sydney Thunder in the KFC BBL, McAndrew kept chasing his dream.

His belief that he was good enough to play at Shield level saw him accept an offer from SA where coach Jason Gillespie was looking to instill greater potency in the bowling attack, and his persistence was rewarded today with an Australian first-class debut that netted him three wickets and a catch.

Now, having achieved his ambition to play Shield cricket, McAndrew was given an immediate insight into the level of expertise required to make the next step.

"Just looking at him as an allrounder, it's pretty daunting," McAndrew said of Green whose century today has him virtually assured of an Ashes berth later in the summer.

"I think I played against him once in a Big Bash game, but you can just tell he's a really good player and especially on a flat wicket like this he doesn't give you many opportunities.

"And then there's his bowling, as we saw in the (Marsh One-Day Cup) game here on Wednesday he really gets it through at pace with a lot of bounce.

"So watching him as a fellow allrounder, it pretty hard not to be impressed."