Medium pacer Michael Neser, an Australian domestic giant, finally earned a much-awaited Test cap during the ongoing 2021/22 Ashes, breaking into the Test XI more than a decade after his first-class debut.
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For many, South Africa-born Neser’s maiden Test could have arrived much earlier, and he came close to being included in the side on a couple of occasions and was part of the extended squad for the 2019 Ashes and 2020/21 series against India. His international debut came at 28, when he replaced Josh Hazlewood for the ODI series against England in 2018, but the streak didn’t extend beyond two games.
Long before he was in serious contention for an Australia spot, Neser’s domestic exploits – particularly his BBL stints with the Hobart Hurricanes – earned him an IPL contract with Kings XI Punjab as a replacement player for Ryan Harris.
The fact that Neser was unheard of outside Australian cricketing circles became obvious when local reports in New Zealand and India mixed him up with Michael Mason, the former New Zealand quick. Even as various newspapers awarded him an imaginary IPL contract, Mason issued a clarification saying he wasn’t the lucky ‘Michael’ selected to represent the Kings.
must confess i had never heard of michael neser. in fact one report said michael mason of new zealand was to replace ryan harris.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 6, 2013
The lengthy lead up led to an anticlimactic debut though. Neser finally earned his debut at the expense of Luke Pomersbach against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 51st game of the season. Operating as the sole overseas player in an otherwise all-Indian bowling line-up, Neser ran into a red-hot Chris Gayle, who bludgeoned him for back-to-back sixes in his opening over.
When he returned later, AB de Villiers and Moises Henriques were in full swing – the duo extracted 21 runs off the final over of the innings, leaving the rookie seamer with 62 runs next to his name from four wicketless overs. Eight seasons on, it’s still the most runs conceded by an overseas seamer in an IPL game. It proved to be the only game in his brief tryst with the Indian T20 league.
Neser’s overall T20 record isn’t exactly reflective of the one-off IPL outing – in 75 T20s, he has picked up 75 wickets at 27.28, an economy of 8.44. First-class cricket is where he has been more prolific, snaring 236 wickets @ 24.47. With his whirlwind cameo in his maiden Test innings, Neser, who has a century each in first-class and List A cricket, showed that he’s got enough batting talent too. Perhaps, KXIP didn’t play him enough to gauge his overall resourcefulness.
