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“He was shattered”: SA coach Ryan Harris on McSweeney’s harsh Test introduction
Lachlan Geleit • February 5th, 2025 12:56 pm
South Australia coach Ryan Harris felt that Nathan McSweeney was harshly dealt with by selectors over the home Test summer.
The 25-year-old, who typically bats at No.3 for his state, was paired with Usman Khawaja at the top of the Aussie order to face a raging Jasprit Bumrah and India.
Harris feels that McSweeney was thrown in the deep end as the series was played on tricky pitches, while the makeshift opener also faced the world’s best in an unfamiliar role, leading him to average 14.40 from six knocks until he was dropped for Sam Konstas on Boxing Day.
“There’s no doubt I just thought he was a bit harshly dealt with,” Harris told SEN Sportsday.
“He came in at a really tough time of the series that we were playing against Bumrah, who is the best bowler in the world in my view. He had to come in and face that at the top.
“From afar you look back at it and after the water had gone under the bridge, I remember talking to him and he was shattered.
“To get the opportunity, he was absolutely delighted, but then on the other end of the scale in probably such a short time, he was absolutely shattered.
“I've never seen Nathan McSweeney like that, he was just so down and disappointed. When you asked him about how he felt and what he was doing he said, ‘I felt as though I was batting really well, he (Bumrah) was just too good for me’.
“The positive I took out of it, and I said to him straight away was, ‘Well, there's not many times when you get dropped and you actually feel like you're batting well’.”
While McSweeney was shattered at the time and Harris was even frustrated by Konstas’ initial selection, the state coach has no doubt that he’ll soon earn his spot back in the Aussie XI.
“He was shattered, but look, will he come again? Of course, he will,” Harris said.
“It's great to see him on that tour of Sri Lanka. I obviously don't see him playing in that second Test unless there's something that happens with Marnus, which I doubt will happen.
“There was no doubt that there was probably a little bit of frustration that Konstas got picked in my mind right at that time (for Boxing Day), but what that kid showed and what he did on that stage was just phenomenal.”
McSweeney is currently in Galle with the Australian side ahead of the second Test against Sri Lanka. He’ll miss South Australia’s game against Western Australia at the WACA beginning on Saturday as a result.
