Swepson bucks trend as he plots path back to Baggy Green

He's collected his first wooden spoon in the Sheffield Shield and hasn't had a look-in with the national side for almost 18 months, but Mitchell Swepson remains hopeful of a Test recall after establishing himself as the one exception to a strong recent trend in domestic cricket.

Swepson was the only wrist spinner regularly in action across the 2023-24 Marsh Sheffield Shield, as seamers dominated on helpful pitches, and finger spinners (WA off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli aside) were employed to play holding roles.

The 30-year-old played all 10 matches for Queensland and his 30 wickets made him the lone wrist spinner to capture more than five in the competition. Looking back across the past five Shield campaigns, the pattern is clear; Swepson is the 14th highest wicket-taker (89 at 31.27) in that time but the lone wrist spinner in the top 50.

Should national selectors view a leg-spinner as a natural complement to Nathan Lyon on a turning home wicket – most likely in Sydney – next summer, it puts the Brisbane product in the box seat, after a summer in which he believes he returned to his best.

And Lyon himself believes the leggie remains in the frame for national representation.

"I'm a big fan of Mitch," Lyon tells cricket.com.au. "I think his skillset is improving each year and I feel like there's a big role for him to play in Australian cricket still, that's for sure.

"Wrist spin, they say, is arguably the hardest craft to nail down, but in red-ball cricket – and even white-ball cricket – he should be, in my eyes, pushing for higher honours, because he's a class bowler."

Speaking with cricket.com.au, Swepson conceded that competing for one spin position in the Test side through the Lyon Era has been mentally challenging at times, but he has managed to maintain a generally optimistic outlook through his decorated first-class career.

"Especially when 'Gaz' (Lyon) comes out and says he's playing 'til he's 45 (laughs), it can definitely feel like a dead-end," he says. "But for me, knowing Gaz is one of the greatest spinners we've seen and being behind him is a tough pill to swallow, I've always been working towards being able to play that second-spinner role. If we get a dry track in Sydney, where the selectors might consider a leg-spinner … I'm always working on that part of my game, throwing dirt down on wickets at training and working on bowling on a day-four, day-five wicket because I feel like that's probably my in.

"I'm not just resigned to the fact I'm never going to get back there just because Gaz is playing; I'd be doing myself a disservice if I wasn't still trying to work towards getting into that Test team, and that's when I'm bowling my best anyway."

Swepson hit career-best form during the Covid-19 ravaged 2020-21 Shield season, when he captured 23 wickets in three matches at 21.17 at the front-end of the summer in Adelaide to throw himself into calculations for higher honours.

A rare neck injury caused by over-bowling followed soon after but 12 months on, when Australia named their squad for the 2022 Test tour of Pakistan, he was on the plane.

A pair of Tests on flat pitches wasn't the ideal entry into cricket's toughest arena but Swepson returned for two more a few months later in Sri Lanka, where he captured eight wickets in spin-friendly conditions.

The performances weren't enough to earn him another crack in India last year however, where despite his selection in the squad, Australia instead debuted off-spinner Todd Murphy and Swepson's state teammate, left-arm orthodox spinner Matthew Kuhnemann.

"I would have loved to have played in India," he says. "I'd been there (in 2017) as a youngster and learnt a lot and then I felt like I was at the peak of my powers when we were there last year, so to not get a game, that one really hurt.

"I was really eager to test myself in that part of the world where I know the ball's going to spin. I didn't quite get those kinds of conditions in Pakistan, so it would have been nice to get a crack there."

Last summer, with Shield pitches in recent summers not favouring his craft but with a "burning desire" to return to the national set-up, the veteran of 77 first-class matches had to lean on his experience and smarts to be impactful. As Queensland finished bottom in the Shield standings for the first time in a generation, Swepson's 30 wickets came at an average of 32.06 and a strike-rate of 61.06.

"I guess that little period (in 2020-21 in Adelaide), the best part about that was the conditions we were bowling in, and on the back of our batters scoring loads and loads of runs, so it allowed me to just operate from one end and really attack," he says.

"The challenge for me is when you don't get those conditions – when you're bowling on the green seamers, when you're bowling two or three overs before a break – how are you going to stay effective, how are you going to do damage?

"Being a leg-spinner, I can't just (say), 'Oh, well, if it's spinning, then I'll be good, and if it's not, well, then I won't be good'. I've still got to find a way to take wickets, and if I'm not taking wickets, at least be a guy who can bowl accurately enough to give the quicks a rest and play a role in tying up an end.

"I probably bowled less overs than what I usually would in a 10-game season, and I would've liked to have bowled more, but we just weren't in positions for me to do that.

"But I was really happy with how the ball was coming out of my hand, particularly the back-end of this year, and to be fair I felt pretty good the whole year – I took a five-for in the second round in Mackay, (and) felt really good there.

"The consistency was there which is always a big thing for me; it's probably the top priority if I'm going to have success with the red ball."

And success is exactly what Swepson will be targeting in 2024-25 as Queensland enter a new era under a new head coach, and the leg-spinner is tasked with again complementing a strong pace attack while simultaneously pushing his case for a return to the Baggy Green.

"I'm very happy with my accomplishments and where I got to over the last few years but there's no doubt I'm still hungry, there's still that burning desire," he says.

"I still feel like I belong at that top level and I want to prove (that) to not only myself, but others out there."