When a new Australian Test cricketer is unveiled, there are often plenty of heartwarming, homespun tales about dreams come true and backyard battles in childhood that helped to prepare the debutant for their first game.

One such remark from Nathan McSweeney, nicknamed “Buddha” for his cherubic childhood looks, struck that note on Sunday.

“It’s such a great side to be a part of,” he said. “Watching them play pretty much from when I was a kid in high school, to be a part of that team now, I’m just so lucky.”

But looking beyond the good vibes, those words spoke deeply for why, at 25 and 29, he and Josh Inglis were desperately needed injections of fresh blood into an ageing national team.

While the call to leave out Marcus Harris, in particular, was debatable, the selectors had to look at the Test squad in terms of regeneration as well as performance. And for future leadership as well as quality batting.

Steve Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Marsh began their international careers in 2010 and 2011, all before McSweeney had even turned 12.

Even the likes of Travis Head (2016), Marnus Labuschagne and Alex Carey (both 2018) got started when McSweeney was still a teenager making his way in Queensland.

One of McSweeney’s vivid memories from his Queensland days is from when he was 19, batting in the nets against Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc during a Brisbane training camp before the 2019 Ashes tour.

“I had Josh Hazlewood, Starc and Cummins all in a net session and walked out of that feeling like I was about 4′11 and felt like the ball was like a golf ball coming down,” McSweeney recalled on Sunday. “I remember calling Dad and saying ‘I’m not sure how anyone faces these guys’. So hopefully it’s a little bit different now and I can hold my own.”