Mitch Swepson believes his Test expertise on the sub-continent provides him the “upper hand” within the spinners’ choice battle for Australia’s tour of India subsequent yr.
The Queensland leg-spinner is underneath stress from the likes of Adam Zampa, Ashton Agar and potential bolter Todd Murphy to play alongside Australia’s spin king, Nathan Lyon, within the four-Test sequence in opposition to India beginning in February.
White-ball specialist Zampa’s return final week to the Sheffield Shield area for the primary time since 2019 ought to be of specific concern to Swepson, along with his fellow leg-spinner tipped to push arduous for a Test debut.
However, Swepson says he’s prepared for the choice problem after taking 10 wickets at a mean of 45.80 in 4 Tests in opposition to Pakistan and Sri Lanka,
Having toiled on flat tracks in Pakistan, the place he took simply two wickets in two Tests, the 29-year-old tweaker bowled higher on the spin-friendlier pitches in Sri Lanka, the place he took eight wickets within the two-Test sequence.
“One thing that I’ve probably got a little bit of an upper hand on is that I’ve now played four Test matches and that experience coming out of both Pakistan and Sri Lanka will probably hold me in good stead in that selection conversation (for the tour of India),” Swepson stated.
“They (the national selectors) were pretty happy with how I bowled in Sri Lanka … so just drawing on that, I’m quietly confident that I’d be in the conversation, at least.
“I certainly want to be a part of that tour (to India) – there’s no doubt about that.”
Swepson has been impressed with Zampa’s type, saying it’s something however a shock he’s in Test competition.
“He’s someone who has identified parts of his game he needed to work on and gone away and worked at it and you can see why he’s battling so well now,” Swepson stated of his spin rival.
“His consistency is the big one that he’s worked on, and at the moment, it looks like he’s got them on a string.
“I’m not surprised he’s in the conversation when he’s playing a high level of cricket and doing so well.
“He looks like he’s bowling over the top of the ball a lot more, which is probably something he never used to do. He used to bowl a bit flatter and out the front of the hand, but he’s actually bowling good overspin, and that’s something he’s really added to his game and it seems to be working really well for him.”
Swepson admitted he would have preferred the possibility to bowl for what was speculated to be an Australia A facet in opposition to South Africa in a tour match beginning on Friday at Allan Border Field.
However, the sport was modified from a first-class fixture to a follow match, resulting in a Cricket Australia XI squad made up largely of rising children as an alternative taking part in in opposition to the vacationers.
“I was pencilled in to play (for Australia A). That would have been an opportunity for me to show them (the selectors) how I’m bowling and against a higher-quality opposition,” Swepson stated.
Instead, he has switched his consideration to Brisbane Heat’s upcoming BBL marketing campaign, which begins on Thursday week in opposition to the Renegades in Cairns.
“I’ve got all the confidence in my skill, and my game, that I’d like to be able to push up against some of the best in the world, and he (Zampa) is certainly up there with one of the best spinners in white-ball cricket in the world at the moment,” Swepson stated.
