Has any modern player faced a tougher introduction to Test cricket than Nathan McSweeney?
It was just under two years ago that McSweeney, a middle-order batter by trade, was picked as Australia's replacement for David Warner as an opener to face India. He played three Tests in bowler-friendly conditions, was dismissed four times out of five by Jasprit Bumrah in career-best form, was dropped, and has not played an international match since.
McSweeney batted for nearly three hours against the pink ball when he made 39 in the first innings in Adelaide, and walked off unbeaten in the second. But ultimately he only managed 72 runs across six innings, and would have been given a longer run if he had scored more runs; his strike rate, a shade below 34, suggested a player lacking scoring options.
Yet McSweeney is only 27, and his time should come again before long. Since he was dropped, he has won two Sheffield Shield titles as South Australia's captain, has scored runs consistently for Australia A, and has made a strong impression at Northamptonshire in the English summer, playing county cricket for the first time.
His name has come up regularly over the past two weeks as a contender to refresh Australia's middle order, given Marnus Labuschagne's position at No. 3 is under pressure after scores of 1, 31 and 4 in the drawn series against Bangladesh. McSweeney will tour India with Australia A next month, and a recall for October's Test series in South Africa is not out of the question.
"You're always hoping to get an opportunity, for sure," McSweeney says, "but as a player, I try to keep my head down. Playing for Australia is the ultimate goal: growing up in Australia and playing domestic cricket, you want to play as many Tests as possible, and that's definitely still my main focus.
"But ultimately, you can't really control these things other than your own performances. You've just got to try to make as many runs as possible, keep learning, keep growing… Hopefully, from my experiences playing Test cricket, Shield cricket and county cricket, if I do get another go, I can grab it with both hands and hit the ground running."
The feedback he received from Australia's selectors and management was clear. "They were great in being pretty transparent on. 'I think we need to see you fire a few more shots and be harder to bowl at,' basically," McSweeney says. "I've definitely taken that into account, tried to add some more scoring areas, and give the bowler less margin to just run in and bowl at me.
"That's probably my main learning from Test cricket: if you allow Test cricketers to run in and just bowl at you, they're pretty good, and they don't really give you too much. You've got to find a way to add a little bit more pressure on them, so if they do miss, you are really looking to score and put them under the pump where you can."
McSweeney also believes that he is better equipped to cope with the mental challenge of Test cricket. "It seems a while ago now," he says. "It was a difficult time. The highs of Test cricket are so high, but you also, unfortunately, get the lowest of lows - and I got that all within a month, really. It was a pretty hectic time, on and off the field.
"It's an experience that I'll try to take with me next time, if I do get an opportunity to play for Australia: you want to enjoy it, and it is an amazing experience and you're doing what you absolutely dreamed of, but it's important to not get carried away with the highs and lows, understanding that it is a game, at the end of the day, and just be a bit more measured."
McSweeney was backed by his state team-mate Alex Carey on Monday, who said he was "hungry" for a recall, and has been mentioned by several pundits as a contender to replace Labuschagne. But he has also been written off by others - most prominently, Ian Chappell, who said bluntly last week: "He's not a Test player."
"Unfortunately, if you want the baggy green, you've got to have the excess baggage that comes with it as well," McSweeney says. "It's not going to stop me from preparing as best I can for if I do get another opportunity, and it's not going to stop me going out there and trying to nail my process, and score as many runs as I can. It's important to see it as a distraction.
"Everyone's got a job to do, and got an opinion. It's not going to stop me from trying my best and trying to make as many runs as possible, and hopefully to prove him [wrong] would be nice, but it's not a motivator for me. I'll just keep trying to do me, and hopefully that results in getting another opportunity."
McSweeney's summer with Northants was the result of his relationship with head coach Darren Lehmann, whom he worked with at Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash. He came over primarily to gain experience against the Dukes ball in the County Championship but has played across formats, winning the T20 Blast and captaining in the 50-over Metro Bank Cup.
He has already renewed for next season, and hopes that he will return with the club in Division One of the County Championship - they sit third in Division Two with five rounds remaining, and his final two appearances of the season will be against the two teams in the promotion spots, Kent (at home) and Durham (away).
"Growing up in Australia, it's something that you always want to do: go over and play county cricket, as so many greats of Australian cricket have done before - at Northampton as well: Matthew Hayden, Chris Rogers, Michael Hussey. There have been plenty of big names, so I jumped at the opportunity. I've learned so much since I came over."
He is living just outside Northampton with Harry Conway, his former state team-mate, next door to Lehmann's house, and has enjoyed the challenge of the relentless county schedule. "You're basically on a bus or at a cricket ground most of the time," he says. "It's been good as a batter: you don't have to wait too long until your next hit.
"There's no substitute for time in the middle. Back home, we can train probably a bit too much, with the spread-out season; over here, you're forced to think on your feet in the middle, due to how frequently you play. I've definitely enjoyed thinking on your feet, learning out there in the middle, and adapting to the different conditions that the UK provides."
McSweeney has made some technical adjustments through the season, and suggests that the main difference between batting in Australia and England is that the threat of being bowled or lbw is significantly greater. "The Dukes ball swings around more, and with English pitches, traditionally a lot more balls are hitting the stumps; there's not as much bounce as back home.
"When I first got off the plane, I was quite open with my set-up. Back home, I leave a lot of balls and score heavily on the leg side, off mainly the back foot. Over here, I feel like most of the good batters you see, like Joe Root, who's one of the best ever, score a lot of runs through the off side, especially through backward point and cover point.
"I've had to just probably become slightly more side-on to really try to focus on accessing the off side, and I've really been pleased with the way that's improved: from the first game to the last game I've just played has been a considerable difference… I definitely think facing the Dukes and these conditions have added a few more areas of the ground I can access."
He also enjoyed being part of a deep batting line-up in the Blast, and the opportunity to play at some significantly smaller grounds than he is used to in the BBL. "You get great value for shots, and to play in a team that bats down to pretty much No. 11 gave me great freedom as a top-order batter to go out there and just try to take it on."
McSweeney mentions Ricardo Vasconcelos and James Sales as Northants team-mates who have impressed him, and believes that allrounder Calvin Harrison is a future England player: "He bowls, bats, and catches everything - I don't think I've seen him put one down - so he's a really talented cricketer. There's no reason why I wouldn't think he'd do well at the next level."
He has two final games to help them win promotion, and will then follow their progress from India, before heading home to Adelaide - or perhaps to South Africa, if Australia's selectors see fit. "It doesn't stop," McSweeney says with a smile, "but playing cricket isn't that bad."