Australian Ashes hopeful Nathan McSweeney took a career-best 3-12 in the One Day Cup match between South Australia and Queensland on Monday (October 20).
Nathan McSweeney registers career-best List A bowling figures
The match at Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide was reduced to a 25-over-a-side affair. Fielding first, South Australia dismissed Queensland for 128 with seven balls left in the innings. The home team had an unlikely bowling hero in Ashes opening contender McSweeney, who took 3-12 from his 3.1 overs.
Bowling off-breaks, McSweeney dismissed Lachlan Hearne (1), Hayden Kerr (4), and James Bazley (23). Queensland’s top-scorer was their opening wicketkeeper-batter Jimmy Peirson, who made 42. Of the 13 occasions McSweeney has bowled, his performance on Monday was his best in List A cricket, eclipsing the 2-14 he took against Victoria in March.
South Australia chased a DLS-adjusted target of 120 runs. They won the match comfortably, with 47 balls and nine wickets remaining. McSweeney also played a key role in the chase, scoring an unbeaten 38 off 37 balls, including five fours, while Mackenzie Harvey made a run-a-ball 52, hitting seven fours and a six.
McSweeney was adjudged the Player of the Match for his all-round performance. This was the third time in his 30-match List A career that McSweeney has won the award. His previous two came in the 2022 season – one for a 75 in a successful chase against Tasmania, and the other for a match-winning 94 against New South Wales.
Match 12, South Australia vs Queensland
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Is McSweeney in the frame for an Australia recall?
McSweeney played three Tests for Australia during the 2024-2025 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He had a difficult start to his international career, managing just 72 runs at an average of 14.40 before being replaced by Sam Konstas for the rest of the series. Four of his five dismissals came against Jasprit Bumrah.
However, he showed promise during the 'A' tour of India in September-October. In the two unofficial Tests, he scored 160 runs at an average of 80, including two half-centuries.
For the Ashes, a question remains over who will accompany Usman Khawaja as the opening partner. McSweeney’s recent form – and Konstas' dip in performance following his stellar debut – have brought him back into the selectors' radar. However, Konstas also showed improvement by scoring a stellar hundred in the 'A' series, heating up the race for the Ashes opening spot.
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