Nathan McSweeney is one of the most gifted young cricketers in the Australian domestic league; he looks up to former top-ranked Test batsman Marnus Labuschagne.
Due to his steady efforts in domestic cricket, McSweeney’s stock has increased significantly in the last few months. In the warm-up match against Pakistan in Canberra, he is now captaining the Prime Minister’s XI. Several seasoned campaigners, like Marcus Harris, Jimmy Peirson, Cameron Bancroft, and Matt Renshaw, make up his team.
Still, the selectors supported McSweeney as the team’s captain. The 24-year-old expressed gratitude to Marnus Labuschagne for mentoring him during his cricket career. Before McSweeney relocated to South Australia, they both played together for Queensland.
Prior to departing from Queensland for South Australia, I had the good fortune to collaborate with Marnus Labuschagne. When the Australian lads didn’t travel much during the COVID-19 year, he was huge for me. In an interview with Cricket Australia, McSweeney remarked, “He side-armed me in the nets and we would bat together all the time.”
Nathan McSweeney Martinus Labuschagne recently won the ODI World Cup, and throughout the campaign, he maintained contact with the young player and mentored him.
His wife would become angry when he would tap his bat in the middle of the night. McSweeney conveyed his appreciation for the 29-year-old combat veteran. He also hilariously mentioned that Labuschagne’s wife would occasionally become upset with him for lending a helping hand to the former, even in the middle of the night.
He adores it. Facial timing is his favorite. I have a feeling that his wife, Bec, would occasionally become irritated when he would try to show me what he thought by tapping his bat on the floor in the middle of the night. However, his generosity with his time makes me eternally thankful,” McSweeney said.
The way he strives to improve himself every day and his work ethic are really admirable. He keeps trying to adjust, modify, and figure out how to accomplish things more effectively. Thus, simply observing him and then hearing his thoughts is really helpful to me. And when I succeed, he gives me a message. It may not mean much to him, but it means a lot to me because I’m striving to be like him,” he continued.
Nathan McSweeney and Labuschagne, in particular, will play for the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League in 2023–2024. But they won’t get to play many games together because he will miss a good chunk of the competition because he’s playing in the next three-match Test series against Pakistan.