Question from Vince (not the one running this blog, another one):

On a scale of 1 to 10 how screamingly obvious would you say it is that Nathan McSweeney’s technique is not up to scratch?

From where I am sitting, I see a back leg miles across, a front leg still pointing to mid-on when he goes to hit the ball, and a bat coming from about 3rd slip, leading to a French cricket forward defence that is just waiting for a seaming ball to do him lbw

Sharp observations.

Jury is out at Test level for McSweeney for now. Would love to see him try and turn the strike over more. Bowler would feel like they’re always a chance given his low strike rate (36.84 in Tests so far).

What I would say is that McSweeney is a massive cricket nerd. Studies heaps of tape of himself and opposition bowlers. Really clear with his plans. Executing is another thing but he’s putting in the work. Conscious of his stance (how far out of crease) but also which stump to bat on to try and nullify chance of LBWs. Has bumped up his average vs Bumrah from 3.7 to 4 during this innings so far.