3 minute read
Queensland captain Usman Khawaja has no doubt leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson is ready for Test cricket should he get the nod to play against India this summer.
Queensland captain Usman Khawaja is confident teammate Mitchell Swepson is ready for Test cricket if picked to face India this summer.
Khawaja was thrilled to watch Swepson deliver a match-winning performance in the third Twenty20 international at the SCG on Tuesday night.
The leg-spinner claimed 3-32 off his four overs as an understrength Australian line-up claimed a 12-run win in the series finale.
"I was really glad they just kept persevering with him and he got the rewards in that third game," Khawaja told AAP from the Sydney Thunder's Big Bash League Hub in Canberra.
"I wasn't surprised at all but in all honesty T20 can be a bit hit and miss too ... you can miss your length a little bit in T20 and get away with it sometimes.
"In four-day cricket, Test match cricket, you just don't get away with it. If you miss your length, you're hit for runs.
"As a leg-spinner it's probably the hardest thing to do, to be consistent and that's Mitchell's greatest quality. He actually spins the ball massively and can land it on a dime, which not many people can do both together."
Swepson will be back at the SCG from Friday representing Australia A against the Indians in a four-day, pink-ball tour match.
In three Sheffield Shield matches this summer, Swepson is the leading wicket-taker in the competition with 23 scalps at 21.17 including a match haul of 10-171 in a narrow loss to NSW - the best figures by a Queensland spinner in 41 years.
It's form which has ensured he's part of the Test squad heading to Adelaide for next week's series opener against India.
While the 27-year-old won't play ahead of Nathan Lyon next week, Khawaja is hopeful a baggy green will be in Swepson's kit bag by the end of the summer.
"A 100 per cent, I've got no doubt that he's ready for Test cricket, for international cricket," he said.
"The way he's bowled to other quality players around Australia, we have a pretty strong domestic competition - he bowls to Test players in that competition.
"It'll just depend on the makeup because it's pretty hard in Australia to play two spinners most times. The SCG is one place where I'm guessing, fingers crossed, Sweppo gets a go.
"If he keeps bowling like this, there's no reason why he shouldn't be the second spinner in Australia and then moving forward being that second spinner overseas too."
