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The same squad will play a three-T20I series in India before travelling to Australia for the World Cup

Firdose Moonda06-Sep-2022Temba Bavuma will lead South Africa at the men’s T20 World Cup after recovering from the elbow injury that has kept him out since the T20I tour of India in June. It’s also been confirmed that he will play as an opener.Bavuma missed the entire all-format tour of England to recover and opted for conservative treatment instead of surgery with a view to being fit for the World Cup. He has made sufficient progress and will make a comeback on the white-ball tour of India, of three ODIs and three T20Is, in September-October, where he is expected to be available for all the games. The squad for the World Cup will play the T20Is in India, while there are expected to be some tweaks for the ODI squad.Rassie van der Dussen, however, has been ruled out. Van der Dussen broke his left index finger while fielding during the second Test against England at Old Trafford but batted in South Africa’s second innings, routinely taking his top hand off the bat after playing a shot. He returned home after that match to see a finger specialist and is expected to be out for “up to six weeks”.Related

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“Temba has recovered well. He has been playing for the Lions in Namibia over the last week and he is good to go,” Victor Mpitsang, CSA’s convenor of selectors, said in a press briefing. “Rassie – we are all aware that he broke his finger a week ago. He went for surgery. It will take up to six weeks before he has recovered. Unfortunately, the timing of his injury didn’t come at the right time.”Van der Dussen’s absence has created an opening for Kolpak-returnee Rilee Rossouw in the squad. Reeza Hendricks, who has come off a run of four consecutive T20I fifties and a 42, is also in the squad, which means South Africa are spoilt for choice in the top order, which also includes Quinton de Kock and Aiden Markram.But with Mpitsang confirming Bavuma would open – “that’s a role he has played in the last year or so” – Markram might continue to be a middle-order option.Hendricks and Rossouw, meanwhile, could play crucial roles in that top order too, even though it might be tricky to fit all the excellent options in, with de Kock and Miller in the mix too.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“We’ve seen the impact of all the players that have come back from Kolpak. We’ve seen the impact they’ve had on our system,” Mpitsang said. “They bring maturity, they know their games. The roles Rilee played against England was great to see. He threw the first punch when we were under pressure. We hope he continues that good form in the World Cup.”We saw Reeza opening the batting in India with Temba batting at three. Rilee has done a great job at three in England. So we need to see how to balance the top-order.”An interesting aspect of the squad is the selection of two fast-bowling allrounders, in Dwaine Pretorius and Wayne Parnell. Parnell, before turning out for Northern Superchargers in the men’s Hundred in England, played in the T20I series in India and in England [against Ireland]. While Pretorius, one of the more in-demand T20 cricketers around the world at the moment, also played the T20I series against Ireland, and has since been busy at the Hundred, with Welsh Fire, and then in the CPL, where he is a part of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots’ squad.Andile Phehlukwayo, meanwhile, has been pushed to the three-man reserves’ list, along with Bjorn Fortuin and Marco Jansen.”Wayne gives us a different variation upfront, and his performances with the new ball and at the death,” Mpitsang explained. “The way Pretorius has bowled at the middle and the end has stood out. A guy like Andile [Phehlukwayo] had a good run. It’s a good back-up to have.”The way he has finished innings has been very impressive, Victor Mpitsang said about Tristan Stubbs•Getty Images

As such, the squad doesn’t look too different from the one that took part in the T20 World Cup last year. Van der Dussen, of course, has been ruled out, and Wiaan Mulder has been omitted, while Fortuin has been moved to the reserves’ list. In their place, Rossouw and Tristan Stubbs have come in, along with Parnell.One of the players who might just have made it but hasn’t is Dewald Brevis, the top-order dasher.”We have been engaging with someone like Brevis in terms of the way forward,” Enoch Nkwe, South Africa’s director of cricket, said. “He is currently at the CPL [with Patriots]. We can’t ignore the fact that he is someone who has played some good cricket. He is very excited to come into the domestic frame and prove himself. He is passionate about South Africa.”It might have ended up being a toss-up between Stubbs and Brevis, with Brevis losing out.”We’ve seen how versatile Tristan Stubbs is. The way he has finished innings has been very impressive,” Mpitsang said. “He is young, he is exciting, he is fearless and not only has he showed it at international level but also domestically. He has ticked the boxes. There is enough experience there to guide him if needs be.”South Africa are in Group 2 in the main round of the T20 World Cup, with Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and two qualifiers.

West Indies captain wants his batters to ‘be clear about whether you’re playing forward or back’

Andrew Fidel Fernando28-Nov-2021Defend a lot. Be clear on whether you’re playing back or forward. And stick around for a couple of sessions. This is West Indies’ batting game-plan for the second Test according to captain Kraigg Brathwaite.With the surface for the second Test expected to be even more spin-friendly than the first, West Indies’ batters technique and application seems set for another major examination.”The plan is to be clear in what you want to do. Believe that you can do it, and do it for long periods,” Brathwaite said. “We’ve got to have the discipline and the fight to do it for 50 overs – more than two sessions, or three sessions.”We had a lot of discussions. One important thing is that you’ve got to defend a lot of balls. Having a straight bat is one thing we discussed.  That’s very important. And sweeping as well – especially the offspinner. It’s just about being clear and confident about whether you’re playing forward or back.”West Indies’ only half-centurions in the first Test were Nkrumah Bonner and Joshua da Silva, who put up a 100-run stand in the second innings, rescuing the side from 18 for 6. Brathwaite said the remainder of the batters had drawn inspiration from that partnership.”Bonner and Josh showed that when you have a solid defence, if you put the effort and energy in, you’ll be successful. Sometimes when doubt comes in, you can slip up a bit. Just trust that defence. When the bad balls come you get runs. It’s important to have that clarity, as to what you want to do here.”In terms of how they were able to manoeuvre different balls, they were a very good example for us. As a batting group, it was good to see, and something to learn from.”West Indies have had a mixed 2021. They began with an excellent 2-0 victory in Bangladesh, before drawing two Tests at home against Sri Lanka. Their worst series was the 2-0 defeat at South Africa’s hands at home, before drawing a home series against Pakistan 1-1. Brathwaite outlined the importance of the next match: if they beat Sri Lanka, they would have won more matches in 2021 than they’ve lost.”To be honest we showed good progress in 2021. It was not a good series against South Africa, but we bounced back decent against Pakistan. In Bangladesh we won that series 2-0. Winning this game will be very crucial from a points perspective for the Test Championship. As a team we’ve made some strides. Once the group stays together and keeps building, that’s crucial.”

Allrounder insists there’s only one man for the job currently and it is Root

George Dobell in Hamilton27-Nov-2019Joe Root “has the backing of everybody” in the England dressing room, according to Ben Stokes.Root has endured a tough few days. After experiencing perhaps his worst Test as captain – England suffered an innings defeat and he recorded his lowest return in any Test as leader where he has batted twice – questions about his position as captain have resurfaced. In particular, there are concerns over whether the leadership is compromising his ability to contribute with the bat. He now averages under 40 as captain and under 30 in 2019.But it is clear he retains the full support of his teammates. Certainly Stokes, who might be considered one of the few viable alternatives for the position and is now, at No. 9, two places above Root in the Test batting rankings, is unequivocal in his support. He believes that it is unfair to pin the failures of the whole team on one man and that there is “no one else to do” the job.”Joe knows that he’s got the backing of everybody in the changing room: players, backroom staff and management,” Stokes said. “That’s the main thing that counts for us as players in a very tightknit group. He knows that everybody in that changing room 100 percent backs him, as I do.”The pressures of being England Test captain is huge. It can be one of the most criticised jobs in England at times. And sometimes that criticism is unfair, I would say. There are 11 guys that contribute to a win or loss. It doesn’t all fall on the captain.”We put our hands up as players when we don’t perform. But unfortunately Joe cops most of that [criticsm]. But as a playing group, we stick together and we hold our hands up together as well.”He’s fine. He’s Joe Root. He is England captain and there’s no one else to do it.”There is unanimity within the England squad about where they went wrong in Mount Maunganui. Having squandered first use of the pitch, they then found themselves bowling on it at its best and were given a batting masterclass by BJ Watling. So, despite the scorecard, they know it was the batsmen, rather than the bowlers, who were most responsible for the defeat.”We fought as hard as we possibly could with the ball,” Stokes said. “I’m not quite sure what else we could have done. We spent 201 overs in the field and we left nothing out there. Scoring 350 in our first innings didn’t quite cut it. On a wicket like that, you have to get five or six hundred if you bat first. We knew we were under-par when we got bowled out.”Stokes was as disgusted as anyone by the comments directed at Jofra Archer towards the end of the first Test. As a man proud of his New Zealand and Maori heritage, he was at pains to point out how unrepresentative the incident was of the welcome England’s players – and supporters – receive in the country.”I’m obviously very proud of my heritage and where I’m from,” Stokes said. “I’ll always respect that. The tattoo on my arm just signifies where the family comes from.”Coming back to New Zealand, it’s not just a cricket tour for me. It’s also a great time to be able to catch up with family that I don’t get to see that often. I came out a week before the Test guys to stay with my mum and dad, which was awesome. I got to see brothers, sisters, cousins and everything like that. Every time I manage to come back it’s really good.”It wasn’t a nice way to end the Test match and it’s a shame because that doesn’t represent New Zealand is about as a country whatsoever. New Zealand is more accurately represented by how much support Jofra has had, not just from the New Zealand cricket team, but New Zealand in general after that incident.”That’s the main things for us now: making Jofra aware that we’ve got his back. It was a pretty horrific incident and something that shouldn’t happen in sport or in the world in general in 2019.”Archer was among the England seamers to return to training on Monday. While he didn’t have a long bowl, he appeared in no discomfort after his exertions in Mount Maunganui and is expected to play in the second Test. Indeed, England may well be unchanged.All the bowlers involved in the first Test bowled without issue on Wednesday though Matt Parkinson, the reserve spinner, took one ferocious blow to the thigh when Root thrashed one back at him. Parkinson will have a terrific bruise, but he was fine.Some of the fringe players have impressed, though. Saqib Mahmood continues to bowl well, while Zak Crawley is catching swallows in training and would appear to be a rare example of a county player reaching the England set-up with fitness levels to rival the very best in the squad.The 21-year-old scored a century in his only innings on the trip and is making a good case for his retention in the squad to tour South Africa despite the anticipated recall of Jonny Bairstow.

After an extraordinary World T20 final, Marlon Samuels was named Man of the Match for the second time in four years after his unbeaten 85 off 66 balls kept West Indies in their chase

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Apr-2016Following an extraordinary World T20 final, Marlon Samuels was named Man of the Match for the second time in four years after his unbeaten 85 off 66 balls kept West Indies in their chase after a poor start and gave Carlos Brathwaite the chance for his astonishing finish.As the emotions flowed for West Indies, Samuels made reference to recent comments from Shane Warne in the commentary box after his dismissal against India in the semi-final which reignited a feud between them – the pair had an infamous run-in during the Big Bash in 2013 – and said he always had confidence in himself to produce another key performance in a final.”I woke up this morning with one thing on my mind. Shane Warne has been talking continuously and all I want to say is ‘this is for Shane Warne’. I answer with the bat, not the mic.”In the practice against Australia I sat in the same seat and made a first-ball duck, so I said I’d go back in the same seat I’d do something special. I don’t worry about semi-finals because when it comes to finals I always turn up and do well for the team. I grew up watching England cricket so all respect to the England players, we are champions again and want to continue to move from strength-to-strength. This is a win for the Caribbean. It means a lot. I didn’t have much to say to Carlos, but told him to swing hard.”Brathwaite himself was keen to heap praise on Samuels’ innings.”It’s us against the world and someone needed to take responsibility. And today Marlon Samuels after a slow start took responsibility and played a fantastic knock. That was amazing man, I wish I could use some expletives on TV to really express how much of a top knock that was. He did it in 2012, and I knew if Samuels was there in the end, he’ll bring us home in 2016 … it was a matter of when and not if.”Curtly Ambrose, West Indies’ bowling coach, said the team always had the belief that as long as the target was mathematically possible they could chase it.”We are that kind of team, we believe that we can chase down any target because we got some real firepower and it showed throughout this tournament. We have the self-belief, that it doesn’t matter how many we have to chase, I mean if it 40 it is out of the question, but anything under 30, we believe we can always get it. We wanted to create history, we won the Under-19, the ladies won theirs and now this. We created history and we’re really enjoying it. Yes, yes I have sympathy for the bowlers these days, but on this occasion, no!”

West Indies will take part in a tri-series in Zimbabwe in August-September along with the hosts and Pakistan, the WICB has confirmed

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jun-2015West Indies will take part in a tri-series in Zimbabwe in August-September along with the hosts and Pakistan, the WICB has confirmed. It means there could be a straight contest between the two visiting sides for the eighth and last Champions Trophy spot, although the PCB and Zimbabwe Cricket are yet to confirm the scheduling of the series.West Indies and Pakistan are currently ranked eighth and ninth in the ICC ODI rankings, with only a point separating them. Only the top-seven sides as on September 30, apart from hosts England, will make it to the 2017 Champions Trophy.Bangladesh are ranked seventh and their recent win against India has given them a reasonably comfortable five-point lead over West Indies, with a three-match home series against South Africa to follow in July.Pakistan have five ODIs against Sri Lanka in July but the Zimbabwe tri-series will be the only time West Indies play one-day cricket before the Champions Trophy cut-off date. The Caribbean side has not played any ODIs since the World Cup.

MS Dhoni, India’s captain, has suggested that a lack of availability rather than talent will continue to be a barrier for England players wishing to participate in the IPL

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Dec-2012MS Dhoni, India’s captain, has suggested that a lack of availability rather than talent will continue to be a barrier for England players wishing to participate in the IPL. Although England’s Test series win in India has raised the profiles of several members of the squad, Dhoni said the limited window permitted by the ECB for IPL participation was a “big concern” for franchises.IPL commissioner Rajiv Shukla had suggested that the likes of Test captain Alastair Cook and Monty Panesar may be of interest when the next auction for international players takes place. However, with England commitments taking a higher priority, Dhoni said only “special” players like Kevin Pietersen would be of interest to franchises.”Most of the time when the IPL happens, I don’t think the English team has a clear period – so they’re not available for the full 45 to 50 days of cricket,” Dhoni said. “That’s a big concern when it comes to some of the IPL franchises.”The English team have fantastic talent, players who can have a big impact in the shorter format. If most of them were available for the full 45 or 50 days, I could see England players coming to the IPL.”The IPL in 2013 is scheduled to begin on April 3, a week after England finish their tour of New Zealand, and will run until May 26. England’s home series against New Zealand begins with the first of two Tests on May 16, further curtailing any potential for involvement. Pietersen and Eoin Morgan are the only current, centrally contracted England players with IPL deals and, when asked, Dhoni was unsure if many others would be joining them in the world’s most glamorous T20 tournament.”Kevin Pietersen is a really different batsman,” Dhoni said. “If he’s available for half a season, the sides can still gamble that he can play seven or eight games at least. He’s a special player. But you have to be that special.”Several members of the England set-up, including Graeme Swann, James Anderson and Matt Prior, entered the 2012 auction only to prove unattractive. Stuart Broad was bought by Kings XI Punjab in 2011 but was ruled out by injury in consecutive seasons before being released. Luke Wright, who is a member of England’s T20 squad but not in possession of a central contract, is part of Pune Warrior’s squad for 2013.Despite various obstacles – in Cook’s case, not even being considered good enough for England’s T20 side – Shukla had suggested that the Test series victory could capture the imagination of franchise owners and public alike.”I think so, I think it might well do that,” Shukla told . “England have done very well and the franchises are most definitely aware of what has been happening in this series. The English domestic schedule can make it difficult for players to play for long here, and franchises will look at that, but these Test matches have definitely raised expectations of the players from television viewers. I am sure Indian people would love to see them again.”Cook might be one. Test and Twenty20 cricket are different but Indian people know about him now as he made a very good impression. Monty Panesar could definitely be another, he is very popular over here already, and there are probably some others.”

A round-up of matches from the fourth day of the Zimbabwe domestic Twenty20 competition

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Oct-2012After scoring a tight win in the one-day competition yesterday, Eagles thumped Tuskers again, by 71 runs in the Zimbabwe Twenty20 competition in Harare. Sikandar Raza, the star of the chase yesterday, scored 63 off 44 balls and shared a century-stand in 12 overs with Cephas Zhuwao (43) to set up a strong base for the Eagles. Regular wickets relatively slowed the Eagles down as 66 runs came off the last eight overs and it was mainly due to a 19-ball cameo by Elton Chigumbura, who hit three sixes in his 35.Tuskers, looking for their first win, lost Charles Coventry in the first over of the chase to Kyle Jarvis. Craig Ervine joined Keith Dabengwa and shared a brief stand of 24 – the highest in the innings – but soon, Chigumbura struck once with the ball and then ran out Sean Ervine as Tuskers limped to 54 for 3 by the tenth over. Tuskers’ innings went down a spiral as they lost quick wickets, Chamu Chibhabha and Tinotenda Mutombodzi sharing two wickets each. The innings folded after 18 overs after No. 11 Keegan Meth didn’t take the field.Eagles, with their third win a row, are at the top of the table, while Tuskers are at the bottom.Mountaineers won their second game in as many matches, on the back of a century from Hamilton Masakadza. Mountaineers were put in to bat by Mid West Rhinos, and the decision didn’t come off as opener Masakadza lasted till the final over, knocking off 103 off 59 balls before being bowled by Ed Rainsford. While there was no much support from the other end, cameos from Kevin Kasuza and Timycen Maruma alongside Masakadza were enough to propel them to 184 for 6.By contrast, Mid West Rhinos lost opener Vusi Sibanda for a duck and had slipped to 52 for 4 in the ninth. They didn’t recover, with the only contribution of note coming from No. 6 Steven Trenchard – he made 40 off 28 and remained unbeaten, but the Rhinos could still manage only 137 for 7, losing by a whopping 47-run margin.

As a barometer of the Australian team, Mitchell Johnson is pretty accurate. The same can’t be said of his bowling over the past two weeks

Brydon Coverdale25-Jul-2010As a barometer of the Australian team, Mitchell Johnson is pretty accurate. The same can’t be said of his bowling over the past two weeks. It was hard to imagine him having a worse tour of England than the Ashes trip last year but his efforts against Pakistan this month have been, statistically at least, inferior to his work against England.It is a worry because much of his trouble in 2009 was put down the personal issues Johnson was dealing with off the field, which he himself later admitted was a distraction. There was no such drama on this occasion, so his three wickets at 72.33 against Pakistan – he did not take more than one wicket in any innings – can only be attributed to poor form.Johnson bowled reasonably well in the first innings at Lord’s without much luck, but by the second innings his line was wonky and his threat had disappeared. Not until the final morning of the Headingley Test, when it proved too late for Australia to salvage the match, did Johnson again bowl a challenging spell.It was notable that Ricky Ponting went to Doug Bollinger and Ben Hilfenhaus first on the fourth morning in Leeds, when Australia needed seven wickets to pull off what would have been an incredible heist. The ball was not new, so that wasn’t the reason for ignoring Johnson, who works better at first change but is nominally the spearhead of the attack.Johnson was named the ICC Cricketer of the Year for 2009, but when he struggles so do Australia; this trip, the Ashes last year and the tour of India in late 2008 being cases in point. He will continue to work with the bowling coach Troy Cooley in an effort to regain his touch for the series in India and the Ashes later this year, after his form was a factor in Australia drawing 1-1 with Pakistan.”There’s endless work that’s always done with Troy and the fast bowlers,” the captain Ricky Ponting said after the Headingley loss. “Whether it be what you can see at our warm-up or training, or more often than not back in the change-rooms looking at footage and looking at things they’ve done well or maybe not done so well through the course of the game.”We all want to play well all the time, but unfortunately that’s not the way this game works. If you’re going to win Test matches, you have to have five or six or seven of your guys playing well each game, and we probably didn’t have that in this particular Test match.”Not that Johnson was alone in the underperforming attack. Despite the assistance for swing and seam, Bollinger, a hit-the-deck type, finds the English conditions troubling. He was barely a danger to the Pakistan batsmen until the final innings of the series, when he found some extra zip.Hilfenhaus was the most impressive of the three main fast men, although he was still below his best, while Shane Watson proved the most capable of swinging the ball and was rewarded with 11 wickets. The results will put Peter Siddle, who is on the comeback trail from back stress fractures, and Ryan Harris back in the frame for the Tests against India and England.”I’ve said for a while that I think that’s the beauty about our squad at the moment, the depth that we’ve got, particularly in the fast bowling side of things,” Ponting said. “Siddle is on his way back and is in very good physical shape, Ryan has had knee surgery and is probably a little bit behind at the moment. When you look at that as a group of fast bowlers, we will be able to come up with a group of guys there that will take 20 wickets more often than not in most conditions.”That they had trouble doing so in favourable conditions this month was a worry; remember, Marcus North picked up six wickets at Lord’s. The attack will be more comfortable in their home conditions for the Ashes, but much will depend on Johnson regaining his accuracy.

Focusing fully on the cricket and not the external hype becomes all the more important for Pakistan, given they really need points on the board

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Feb-20252:40

Aaqib: Naseem, Shaheen, Rauf remind me of troika from 90s

India vs Pakistan matches will always be passionate affairs. But for Pakistan’s players, this is just another opportunity to do the cricketing things they train to do as professionals. The hype, Pakistan’s coach Aaqib Javed feels, is external.”For the cricketers, this is a profession,” Aaqib said. “For them, it definitely is an honour. But, it is a profession. You try your best. In that, you sometimes lose as well. It is a match… one team will win, one will lose. How does it matter? Why so much pressure? Every game is different.”In a Pakistan-India game, the energy will remain high. And this is the beauty of this contest. What does the crowd do? When you play well, the crowd supports you, they clap their hands. When you play poorly, be it India or Pakistan, the home crowd will go against you. As a player, you shouldn’t keep the crowd in mind. We never kept it and neither should these players. What’s your focus? Ball, bat – that’s it.”Related

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Focusing fully on the cricket and not the external hype becomes all the more important for Pakistan, given, after their opening-day loss to New Zealand, they really need points on the board.There is also particular focus on this game, because although Pakistan are the official hosts, they have had to travel to Dubai, where India have set up camp, and have already played a match. There have been suggestions that it is India who are enjoying the closest thing to home advantage in this scenario. But Aaqib played those suggestions down.”There’s no advantage [for India] at all, because if you look at all the Pakistani players, they have been playing leagues here,” Aaqib said. “The PSL has been played here. So there’s nothing really – there’s no advantage or disadvantage.” Not to forget, nearly all of Pakistan’s home fixtures were played in the UAE between 2009 and 2019.The surface in Dubai is expected to play slower and lower than those in Pakistan, partly because the ILT20 was played here over the past six weeks. Very few of the strips on the square are fresh.”We also have to see the pitch and the ground here,” Aaqib said. “Are these similar to the one we have in Pakistan or are they different? We will play in accordance with the pitches, conditions and the opposition team.”

McSweeney is firmly in the mix and has a chance to make his Test debut, having made an excellent start to Sheffield Shield

Tristan Lavalette30-Oct-20241:00

Bailey: Bancroft’s consistency will count for something

Australia A captain Nathan McSweeney says he is confident of fronting up to the new ball and opening the batting in the first Test against India if the selectors go down the route of a non-specialist.The race to partner Usman Khawaja has seemingly come down to back-to-back four-day matches between Australia A and India A. Former Test openers Cameron Bancroft and Marcus Harris are set to open the batting in the first match in Mackay starting on Thursday, while teenaged prodigy Sam Konstas is also in the squad.Even though he bats at No. 3 for South Australia, McSweeney is firmly in the mix and has a chance to make his Test debut, having made an excellent start to the Sheffield Shield season with scores of 55, 127 not out, 37 and 72.Related

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McSweeney, 25, has built on his form from last season where he scored 762 runs at 40.10, including three centuries, in mostly tough batting conditions. Only three players in the competition scored more runs for the season.He has been touted as a future Test captain underlined by his appointment as Australian A skipper, a role he has fulfilled several times previously. McSweeney has also led the Prime Minister’s XI once, as well as captaining the Brisbane Heat to last season’s BBL title.McSweeney’s form and highly-regarded leadership credentials – his tactical nous has impressed observers in his debut season as South Australia captain – have proved compelling for the national selectors who are left pondering if he can step up into the unfamiliar role of opening.”I think I’m playing probably the best cricket I have, batting No. 3 for South Australia, and pretty much my whole career,” McSweeney told reporters in Mackay.”It’s not too dissimilar to opening. I feel like you can be in there the first over of the game. All my preparation is with the new ball, so I feel like my game’s ready.Nathan McSweeney is coming off scores of 55, 127 not out, 37 and 72•Getty Images

“Hopefully I can get an opportunity. If not, I’ll keep trying to get better. What will be, will be.”McSweeney was tight-lipped over his position in Australia A’s batting order, but he will likely stay in his customary role at No. 3.”I’m quite clear where I’m batting for this game. It’s a great honour to play for Australia and I’m happy to bat wherever,” he said. “Hopefully I can take my opportunity batting where I do. I’m not sure what’s going to happen in the next game, so the selectors will pick that.”I think being talked about playing for your country is a great honour….try and embrace the chat. All I can do is prepare as best I can and prepare the other boys.”There are so many guys that are playing well and hopefully we can all take it [the opportunities] and make it really hard for the selectors.”While the national focus has been absorbed with this so-called ‘bat-off’, set to reach almost fanatical levels in Mackay and the MCG, Australia A will be pitted against a talented India A line-up in a contest to be played in the humid conditions of northeast Queensland.India A boasts several Test squad members, including 21-year-old allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, looking to acclimatise to Australian conditions and start the tour strongly.”It will be nice to play those guys. We only see them on TV [in the IPL], for me personally,” McSweeney said. “The wicket looks great, I don’t think it will be too toss dependent. I think with the bat and the ball, they’ve got some great players.”We’ll need to be at our best and hopefully we can put in a good performance and get the win for Australia A.”