Australia have a 1-0 lead against England in Ashes 2025.
Discarded Australia opener Nathan McSweeney hit his maiden First-Class double century against England Lions in the ongoing unofficial Test at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane to ignite his Ashes 2025 prospects, amid no injury update on Usman Khawaja.
Australia A reached a mammoth 554/7 in the first innings, taking a massive 388-run lead after the England Lions were skittled out for a below-par 166 on the opening day.
Batting at No.3, McSweeney scored an unbeaten 40 on Day 1. He didn’t let his guard down on the next day, smashing unbeaten at 222 off 365 balls. His innings was laced with 27 fours and two maximums, highlighting his ability to play marathon innings. This surpassed his previous best first-class score of 127 not out for South Australia against New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield 2024-25.
In the process, McSweeney forged a 72-run partnership with Campbell Kellaway for the second wicket. He then stitched a 135-run third-wicket stand with southpaw Cooper Connolly, who missed out on a well-deserved maiden First-Class century by just 12 runs. Beau Webster, released from the Test squad vs England for the Brisbane Test, joined the right-hander in the middle to add 117 runs for the fourth wicket before accumulating 100+ runs with Xavier Bartlett.
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McSweeney marked his Test debut during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 but faltered to his potential, failing to go past the 50-run mark in any of his six innings. In three matches against India, the 26-year-old could score only 72 runs at an average of 14.40 before getting replaced by then 19-year-old Sam Konstas.
However, McSweeney has a great opportunity to sneak into the Test side again if veteran opener Usman Khawaja doesn’t recover in time before the Third Test of the ongoing Ashes 2025, scheduled for December 17 in Adelaide. Khawaja, who sustained a back injury during the Ashes 2025 opener in Perth, was ruled out of the second Test (pink ball Test) at The Gabba in Brisbane, forcing Australia to promote Travis Head as an opener and partner inexperienced Jake Weatherald, who will take some confidence from his first innings fifty.
Despite missing the second Test, Khawaja, who turns 39 on December 18, remains with the squad in rehab. However, his recent poor form and fitness issues could allow Australia to give McSweeney another chance, as he is currently enjoying sublime form in domestic cricket. McSweeney’s last few first-class scores read: 222, 63, 68, 2, 25, 13, 103, 41, 26, 0, 6, 74, and 85.
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