Australia vs India first test. Nathan McSweeney debut as opener, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, video, start time, highlights

Australian debutant Nathan McSweeney is confident he can handle the transition to opening despite his lack of experience in the game's toughest job.

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It's been 47 years since an Australian debutant opened the batting without having done so at Sheffield Shield level, but McSweeney has been given the responsibility of tackling India's world-class pace attack on a bouncy deck at the Perth Stadium venue where he has never played first. -class cricket.

The 25-year-old opened the batting in this month's Australia A match against India A at the MCG, with scores of 14 and 25. It remains the only time he has seen the new ball at first-class level.

McSweeney has spent most of his professional career in the middle bracket. He averaged 30.86 at first drop in first-class cricket, including a century in 15 knocks, while that figure rises to 44.06 at No. 4 and 57.20 at No. 5.

He has walked fourteen times to bat within the first ten overs of a Sheffield Shield innings, failing to reach fifty in any of those.

Speaking to Fox Cricket's Kath Loughnan ahead of the first Test against India, which starts on Friday, McSweeney brushed aside concerns about moving up the order, arguing the move from No. 3 to opener is not too shocking.

“I feel like my games are in a good place, and I'm definitely confident that I can handle it,” McSweeney said.

Nothing changes in terms of preparation and planning.

As the No. 3 batsman for most of my career, you can be the second ball of the match. You can face the ball before the other opener faces a ball.

I just have to get up a little earlier.

Having that time to get your mind ready is probably the most important thing.

The most recent Australian opener to score a century on Test debut was Wayne Phillips, another South Australian who achieved the feat against Pakistan in Perth in 1983, perhaps a good omen for McSweeney.

The right-hander doesn't have to look much further than his batting partner for inspiration. Usman Khawaja also occupied the middle order in the Sheffield Shield order before emerging as one of Test cricket's most consistent openers.

However, many of Australia's modern openers have flopped in their first Test knock, including Cameron Bancroft (5 against England in Brisbane), David Warner (3 against New Zealand in Brisbane), Phil Hughes (0 against South Africa in Johannesburg ), Chris Rogers. (4 against India in Perth), Phil Jacques (2 against South Africa in Melbourne) and Michael Hussey (1 against West Indis in Perth).

Hussey, who made his debut as a Test opener before sliding into the middle order, argued that the mental adjustment would be more challenging for McSweeney than any technical changes.

Opening the bat is the hardest job in the game, it's such a difficult position to bat, Hussey told Fox Crickets The follow-up podcast this week.

He has the game, the temperament and the technique to handle the move, but it's more about the mental side of the game and the preparation, to be mentally ready to go.

Sometimes you are in the field for about a hundred overs, and then you have ten minutes and then you are batting again. That can be a real mental challenge.

Normally, as number 4, you have time to shower and mentally relax a bit before going outside.

I think it's going to be a real challenge for Nathan McSweeney, going from a position he's comfortable in to one he's never done before, especially against such a great team like India.

It will be difficult for him.

McSweeney played his junior cricket for Caboolture, about an honor north of Brisbane, before making his first-class debut for Premier Cricket club Northern Suburbs at the age of 16.

He represented Australia at the Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2018, hitting a brutal 156 (111) against Papua New Guinea and finishing the tournament with 211 runs at 70.33.

But after earning a rookie contract with Queensland later that year, McSweeney's career stagnated. During two summers with the Bulls, he played five games and scored 126 runs at 2 p.m. with a best of 35.

With the likes of Test-capped batters Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw and Joe Burns in the Queensland squad, McSweeney struggled to make the first-choice Sheffield Shield starting XI, but South Australia gave him a lifeline.

Following his 2020 report on South Australian cricket, Hussey recommended the state needed to take a broader look at player recruitment, chasing interstate talent rather than just promoting local quality cricket.

In response, then-Redbacks coach Jason Gillespie signed McSweeney and fellow Queenslander Brendan Doggett ahead of the 2021/22 season, a decision that sparked backlash at the time. However, the decision soon paid off.

McSweeney has averaged 41.85 in the Sheffield Shield since switching allegiances, hitting an unbeaten 99 against New South Wales at Karen Rolton Oval in March 2022 to help South Australia break a 17-match winless streak.

Since the population in South Australia is not large, (I recommended) they should try to bring in talent from other states, Hussey explained.

It's quite good that they managed to get Nathan McSweeney, he looks like a quality player and I'm sure he would have been in Queensland's plans for the future.

But for him to be able to move to South Australia, get an opportunity and now play Test cricket for Australia is a good story.

I'm sure South Australia will see that as a bit of a victory and a bit of a success story.

Last season, McSweeney amassed 762 runs at 40.11 with three hundreds, starting his 2024/25 season with a match-saving ton against New South Wales at Cricket Central. His unbeaten 88 against India A in Mackay convinced the national selectors that he was ready for Test cricket.

It will be a dream come true, McSweeney said.

Steve Smith and Pat Cummins were the first (congratulations via text).

It took me a while to realize that they are now my teammates and not the superstars I saw on TV as a kid.

The Australian cricket team has always been the best team in the world since I can remember, and to be part of that is something I am very grateful for and grateful for the opportunity.

McSweeney will become Australia's 467th cricketer on Friday, joining two fellow South Australians in the starting XI Travis Head and Alex Carey.

Regardless of how the first few Tests go, Hussey will be hoping McSweeney gets the entire series to prove his worth.

“I just hope they support him,” Hussey continued.

The challenge will be that if Australia go down 2-0 early in the series and haven't scored any runs, there will be enormous pressure from the public, the media and everyone outside to make some changes.

Let's hope he gets off to a good start.

The first Test between Australia and India starts at 1.20pm AEDT on Friday at Perth Stadium.