Michael Neser continued his superb County Championship campaign for Glamorgan today (July 12), scoring a second consecutive century to further boost his case for an Ashes call-up.

Glamorgan had been in trouble batting first against Leicestershire. They slipped to 93-7 having lost Chris Cook and Timm van der Gugten in consecutive overs with Neser at the crease. From there on however, the Australian put on an imperious display to rescue the match for his side.

He counter-attacked while James Harris sat in at the other end, reaching his fifty off 61 balls with a four. By the time he reached his century, Glamorgan were in a much more comfortable position at 265-8. Neser’s century came off 147 balls and included 15 fours.

Michael Neser reaches his century with a boundary!

The Glamorgan overseas has now scored centuries in back-to-back #LVCountyChamp innings pic.twitter.com/uiXwu52IrX

— LV= Insurance County Championship (@CountyChamp) July 12, 2023

He was within sight of a double-century when Glamorgan declared nine down, meaning Neser finished unbeaten on 176 having struck a six in his final over at the crease to bring up a batting bonus point. From the position they had been in when Neser came in, his innings meant they finished on 403-9.

In the last Championship match he played in back in May, Neser scored a second-innings century, again helping to save a match for Glamorgan. The side had been bowled out for 123 in the first innings and conceded a 358-run deficit. But, after Marnus Labuschagne and Kiran Carlson both scored centuries, Neser put the total well out of Sussex’s reach with 123 off 198 balls.

Neser has taken 19 wickets in six Championship matches this season at an average of 25.63. Two centuries and two half-centuries mean his average with the bat currently reads 81.16 from seven innings in Division Two.

There were calls for him to be included in Australia’s squad before the Ashes series started, and he did join the squad briefly before the World Test Championship final to help with their preparation. He took a hat-trick against Yorkshire in early May, claiming Dawid Malan, George Hill and Dom Bess as his victims.

Cameron Green was not fit to play the third Test at Headingley, with Mitchell Marsh claiming his place and making a sensational return for Test cricket. While Australia have been rotating through the rest of their quicks, England blew through their tail twice at Headingley, mostly thanks to Mark Wood’s express pace. Including Neser in their line-up would strengthen their lower order, while also including a player with significant experience in English conditions. There are concerns over Scott Boland’s form, while Josh Hazlewood has averaged 35 with the ball in the series thus far.

Neser has played two Test matches so far in his career. The most recent was against West Indies in December last year, where he took five wickets across both innings and scored 18 in the only innings he was required to bat.

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