Straight to the pint: Neser's next step on hold after starring role

It's a crisp late August evening in Brisbane and a father of three serves another round of foaming cups from his mobile beer truck.

He looks out over his slightly greying beard and surveys Perry Park in front of him, where the final of football's Queensland Cup is taking place.

Fans of the Gold Coast Knights and Brisbane City clubs rarely recognise the man pouring their drinks.

Although the Gabba is only a few kilometres away, featuring there in the Ashes in a few months time feels a world away for Michael Neser.

But the fire of Neser's "dream" still burns.

He pulls another beer.

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Neser is tearing in from the Member's End at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Representing Australia A, he's got 4-27 to his name and is making India A's top order look second-rate.

In his own words, "I thought I was bowling superbly".

But then, disaster. Two balls into his 13th over, his left hamstring snaps.

Any hopes the champion allrounder had of playing Test cricket again evaporate as he hobbles off the hallowed turf.

"Bugger, that could've been my chance," he remembers thinking.

It prompts Neser to consider life after cricket.

Taking inspiration from long-time friend and former teammate Nathan Reardon, Neser gets on the front foot about the second half of his working life.

That's how he winds up in a refurbished horse float, called 'Horse and Hound', serving tap beer to football fans.

Reardon is also involved in the mobile alcohol business with his own venture 'The Beer Shack', and while the pair help each other out, the idea to keep the entities separate was to avoid "the drama of losing a mate over a business". 

And not just any mate either, they were housemates almost two decades ago and were in one another's bridal party. 
"Look, I think if you asked 'Nes' as well, we didn't really see ourselves getting into the booze industry or even into the events industry," Reardon tells cricket.com.au.

"I've always liked trying to start businesses and growing them and I think Mike has shown a bit of interest in wanting to go down the path of being in business post-cricket as well." 

Fast forward three months and Neser's Test ambitions changed as quickly as a pink-ball game at night.

Injuries to Test quicks Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood suddenly saw Neser parachuted into the Australian squad, only for him to run the drinks for the first Ashes Test in Perth as Brendan Doggett debuted.

But on arrival in his hometown of Brisbane, things suddenly changed again.

All week, Neser trained as diligently as ever, hoping for a chance to add a third Test cap to his name.

Fittingly, or perhaps unnervingly, affixed to a light post adjacent to the Gabba nets is a large promotional image of Neser in Brisbane Heat garb.

The same venue where, 45 minutes before the toss last Thursday, even his most ardent supporters were surprised to see him marking out his run up.

The wily allrounder was preferred to veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon, in a surprising move by the Australian selectors.

On a pitch that looked to be flat during the daylight hours, it seemed a bold decision.

"We wanted something a little bit different in terms of changing the pace of the game, and with him being able to bring the wicketkeeper up to do that kind of thing," captain Steve Smith explained after Australia's eight-wicket win.

"It was a similar role as to what Nathan (Lyon) would play, obviously he's not a spinner, but a similar role.

"And (Neser) obviously extended our batting, which we thought was going to be crucial as well. He did a wonderful job."

Neser did everything he was asked of, and more.

After a nervy start to his first Test in three years, he was Australia's most economical bowler in the first innings, with his spell of 5-2-4-0 either side of the day one dinner break proving crucial in prising out English wickets at the other end.

In the second innings, as he marched towards the first five-wicket haul of his Test career, he snared back-to-back caught-and-bowleds to remove the set pair of Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley. Neser described them as "regulation". Smith, one of the world's best fielders, thought they were "sensational".  

Although renowned as a new-ball bowler, one of the few Australians who can consistently swing the ball both ways, Neser took no wickets in his opening spells.

Instead, he relied on unerring accuracy and subtle movement to overcome the English, with former captain Ricky Ponting hailing his "workmanlike" attributes on the Seven Network. England captain Ben Stokes meanwhile, pointed out just how well Neser and Scott Boland repeatedly hit a crack in the pitch from the Stanley St End, making life exceedingly difficult for the visitors.

Four of his six wickets for the match came in the middle session, statistically the best time to bat.

"There's no fuss about what he does," Reardon says. "He just knows what his job is.

"He gets in and does it, and if he's not going well, he was always one of those ones that's just such a good teammate and good to be around."

No statistics are kept on players who are the 12th man, but if they were, Neser would have some formidable numbers.

Consistently touring with the Test squad for the past five years but rarely playing, Neser's been kept around the team not only for his ability but for who he is.

Despite his burly look and love of the outdoors, Neser is softly spoken and humble.

When Smith held the catch off Brydon Carse to seal Neser's first five-wicket haul in Test cricket, the reactions of his teammates spoke volumes as to how they regard him.

Cameron Green embraced him with a bear hug, Travis Head jumped on his back and Mitch Starc lifted him off the ground.  

"I don't think you'd be able to find anyone up here (Queensland) or anyone over the country that's had anything to do with him that would speak badly of him," Reardon says.

Smith was chuffed to see the toil pay off.

"I'm super proud of him," he said. "He's been around for a long time now and it's his first five-wicket haul.

"He's been on a lot of tours. He's been close (to selection) on a few opportunities and he's played a few pink-ball games now and done a tremendous job."

Calling Queensland home since emigrating from South Africa when he was 10, Neser has become as familiar with the Gabba as few others.

His sole wicket in the first innings, Crawley caught behind, was his 100th first-class wicket at the venue.

But more important than performing well in front of his home fans was doing it in front of his family.

"It's a moment that you dream of as a kid, to get a Test five-for, and to actually happen, I don't know what was going through my head," Neser told SEN radio after day four.

"(There were) so many emotions. I'm just lucky that I've got my family here for starters, to share this moment with.

"I've got my sister, she's in the crowd. I haven't seen her for two years. She's just landed from South Africa in the nick of time."

Now attention turns to Adelaide, the scene of Neser's previous two Tests, in 2021 and in 2022.

Yet despite boasting a first-class bowling average of 23.03 at the venue and coming off a career-best haul in Brisbane, he is no certainty to retain his place in the XI and play back-to-back Tests for the first time.

Cummins and Lyon will almost certainly return, posing another tough question for the selectors.

Neser will no doubt happily put his expertise running, and pouring, drinks aside if it means another match in the Baggy Green.

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Second Test: Australia won by eight wickets

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (second Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood