After playing a hard debut in Perth, McSweeney successfully made a total of 39 in Adelaide, but he is satisfied to face such strong opponents in the beginning of his international career.
On the first day of the Adelaide Test, Australia bowlers successfully dismissed all the India team, Usman Khawaja along with his opener batsman McSweeney started their innings. “This could be good fun,” he said.
McSweeney faces a challenging start of his international career, during his first two tests this season. He has been dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah thrice, in 46 deliveries and making 11 runs only. But he can learn through this experience for his betterment.
“To get a bowler like Jasprit early in my career, it’s not going to get much tougher than that and I take some confidence from getting through a spell in Adelaide,” he said. “The more I face, the more comfortable I’ll get against him.
“Facing him for the first time – he’s quite a unique bowler. He’s obviously world-class and a bit different to most bowlers I’ve faced. [It’s about] adapting to his angle and where he delivers on the crease. I got two pretty good balls from him [in Perth], so to try and wear that on the chin and trust what I’ve been doing is going to be good enough.”
“He got me again in Adelaide – he’s a great bowler, and really enjoying the experience of trying to work out a game plan on the run against a world-class player. Hopefully I’ll get better the more I face him and can throw a few more punches here at the Gabba.”
After the difficulties of his first match, McSweeney talked about the challenges to people who are trustworthy for him, including Labuschagne, his South Australia batting coach Steve Stubbings, and his father. “He’s watched me playing since I was a kid and keeps it quite simple,” he said of his dad’s efforts.
McSweeney also praised the help that was given to him by his friend Labuschagne,
“He’s a super generous guy,” McSweeney said. “No doubt he had some things to work on for himself but [he was able] to give me the time to really help me out. It gives me some confidence as well. [I’m in my] first game trying to work out, he’s 50 games in and still trying to tinker and work things out. Guess that’s the game of cricket; as a batter you miss out more than you make runs unfortunately at times.”
McSweeney further added that he will learn more tricks that one of the opener batsman should know. As a player you always learn new tactics with the passage of time. “I’ll continue to hopefully get better and learn the tricks of the trade.”
The third Test in Brisbane brings McSweeney back home. He talked about the third test match.
“The ticket allocation for me has been exhausted already,” he joked. “It’s going to be a great experience and an awesome one for my family. I had one in Adelaide last week, now I get to have another home Test in Brisbane.”
