Spin it like Sweppo: The teen tweaker ready to take on India

"It's very similar" says Australian Under 19 coach Tim Nielsen. "You'd swear that he's modelled his action off Mitch Swepson." The slow walk in before turning to the side. The hop and jump into the crease. The violent ripping of the ball into the air, spinning above the batter's eye-line.

For Australian Under 19 leg-spinner Spencer Green, the resemblance is no coincidence.

"I just wanted to be like Sweppo," Green says with a laugh.

"I grew up watching Heat games and just loved the way he went about it. I think he's the best all-round leg-spinner Australia has had in the last 10 years."

The similarities are not just in their actions. Both Swepson and Green are from Queensland, both attended the same high-school and both work with renowned spin-bowling coach John Davison.

"I suppose that's where the similarities have sort of come from," Green says.

"We both worked closely with Davo (Davison), so we probably share a lot of the same techniques and the same theories that Davo has about spin bowling.

"It's pretty cool to be compared to him. I'm nowhere near as good, he's a weapon, but it is cool to be compared to Sweppo."

The young leg-spinner will travel to India later this month as part of a 16-player squad to take on India's Under 19 side in a multi-format series to be played in Rajkot and Ahmedabad.

It is an experience the Queenslander is eager for, especially given he will be touring with state teammates Eli Brain, Charlie Henderson, Theo Tsingos and Thomas Vaseo.

"I'm incredibly excited," Green said. "We found out from Greg Moller (Queensland's Development Manager), who pulled all of us into a room and said, 'I've got no bad news, you're all going to India'.

"And it isn't just the Queensland boys. All the lads going on that tour are a great bunch of blokes, there isn't anyone I don't get on with, so I think that will be a great experience, not just to play cricket, but to basically live with one and get to know each other.

"I think that will be our strength, the closeness of the group."

The tour will be the first time Green has stepped foot into India, a country famed for its cricket obsession.  

"Some of the boys that went over there the last tour said they were signing autographs everywhere," Green said.

"It might be a bit of a shock, but also just such a cool experience to see how much they love cricket.

"I mean, look at the Indian Under 19 team that we're playing. It's pretty incredible that out of how many blokes playing cricket in India, that they are the best of the best cricketers in the country under 19 years old.

"I think it will really put it into perspective about how powerful cricket is over there."

While a dream assignment, Green also understands the unique challenges that await him in the subcontinent.

"I'll have to tweak a few things with my bowling, I've been doing a bit of work with Davo in the lead-up, who I've worked with since I was 12 years old, so he knows my game really well," said Green."

"Talking with him and Tim Nielsen, understanding that I need to hit the stumps as often as I can, as the bounce and spin can vary quite a bit.

"The more you hit the stumps, the more you are in the game."

Although most leg-break bowlers have historically struggled in subcontinent conditions, newer-age wrist-spinners such as Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are good blueprints for Green to try to replicate.

"Watching India's spinners, you see they bowl with a bit more of a square seam, rather than over the top like we do here in Australia," Green said.

"The square seam almost allows the ball to turn more sharply, or slide on a bit quicker off the deck, rather than the slower turn you might get with bowling with more top-spin. They do it very well.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how I adapt to different conditions, when I need to bowl with more side-spin or if I need to go back to what I know and bowling with more over-spin, depending on the situation of the game." It'll be a great experience to see how I go."

Australia will play three 50-over games and a four-day red-ball match in Rajkot before heading to Ahmedabad for the  second four-day match.

"My theory (with white-ball v red-ball) is basically to do more or less the same thing as a bowler, try to keep it as simple as possible," said Green.

"For me, that is getting good shapes on the ball, spinning the ball – hopefully that will hold me in good stead across all formats.

"I like to attack defensively, so build pressure with dots, keep the scoreboard pressure and in doing so, hopefully that leads to chances, especially if I'm attacking the stumps.

"Obviously your gameplans change, field settings change to either be more defensive or attacking, and you might try to be a bit more unpredictable in the shorter form, but I try to keep the basics the same."

From Shane Warne's majestic flipper to Adam Zampa's subtle wrong 'un, every leg-spinner likes to have a calling card that they can deceive a batter with. For Spencer Green, that is his slider.

"My slider is probably my best ball. I try to hit the stumps a lot, especially in white-ball cricket, so having those variations is important," he said.

"They don't need to be crazy variations either, they can be subtle. I have a normal leg-spinner with a normal grip, whereas I've found bowling a leggie with a cross-seam grip drifts differently. It is the same with bowling different top-spinners, different wrong 'uns.

"It really is about putting doubt in the batter's mind, and having different balls means you can be unpredictable, which is a great skill to have."

"The India tour is a chance to impress ahead of the 2028 U19 Men's World Cup, an Green feels well-prepared thanks to the advice of his idol.

"'Swep' has given me some good feedback on India, and how he found it over there, the lessons he learned," said Green.

"I've learned so much from him, and I'll continue to do so. It's really cool that I can just speak with him whenever I want and he'll give me as much as he can. "He's a good one to have. It's pretty cool."

Australia U19 men's tour of India 2026

First one-day match: September 18, Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot, 1:30pm AEST

Second one-day match: September 21, Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot, 1:30pm AEST

Third one-day match: September 23, Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot, 1:30pm AEST

First four-day match: September 27-30, Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot, 2pm AEST 

Second four-day match: October 5-8, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, 3pm AEDT 

Australia U19 squad: Kasey Barton (TAS), Hayden Barbulovic (SA), Eli Brain (QLD), Will Byrom (NSW), Blake Cattle (NSW), Jack Czosnek (VIC), Spencer Green (QLD), Connor Gregory (SA), Charlie Henderson (QLD), Zed Hollick (WA), Matthew Lough (WA), Neel Patel (NSW), Jacob Pietz (VIC), Patrick Sullivan (VIC), Theo Tsingos (QLD), Thomas Vaseo (QLD)

India U19 one-day squad: Lakshya Raichandani (c), Yashbardhan Chauhan (vc), Rajat Baghel (wk), Aaryavir Sehwag, V.K. Vineet, Kushagra Ojha, Arjun Rajput, Manal Chauhan, Anvay Dravid (wk), V. Yashveer, Shavin Vinodh, Mohit Ulva, Chigurupati Venkata, Kavya Patel, Aryan Savsani.

India U19 four-day squad: Yashbardhan Chauhan (c), Lakshya Raichandani (vc), Sagar Virk, Kushagra Ojha, Manal Chauhan, Kush Patel, Manav Krishna (wk), Abhipray Biswas (wk), Ishan Om, Ayaan Akram, Pranav Ragavendra, Priyanshu Singh, Mohit Ulva, Aryan Yadav, Tanmay Baloda.