Quantcast

McDermott learns lessons from middle-order mishaps

Hobart Hurricanes star realistic that any chance he gets on the upcoming New Zealand tour will come in the middle order

Ben McDermott has declared he will be better suited to the middle order if given a second chance in Australia's Twenty20 team in New Zealand.

McDermott has not played for Australia since November 2019 but is one of several players set to benefit from Test stars not playing against the Black Caps.

The 26-year-old is realistic his best chance will come batting in the middle order, despite impressing up top for Hobart in the KFC BBL this summer.

In his initial 12-match stint as an Australian player where he batted primarily away from his favoured top order, McDermott failed to have a strike rate of above 110 in any game and made just one score of beyond 25.

But he is confident he will be better prepared this time around should he be given the chance in the middle order after putting significant work into the role with batting coach Jeff Vaughan.

Every six: McDermott goes large in big campaign

"We just went through being able to start your innings at 100 per cent," McDermott said.

"Being able to strike boundaries and strike at a decent strike right from ball one was key for success and I wasn't able to do that at all. 

"I'm someone who needs a few balls to get going. Something I'm working on is being able to hit a boundary early on and get myself going."

McDermott initially made the call to move down the order for the Hurricanes last summer, with Australia desperate to find finishers ahead of the T20 World Cup.

However, the move backfired and left him short on runs, before returning to the top of the order where he powered his way to a 400-run season this summer.

But while Aaron Finch, Matt Wade and potentially Josh Phillipe will occupy the top three spots for Australia in the five T20s, McDermott can now see a clearer path forward around No.6.

"Being able to score boundaries at the start was one of the things I took out of that (first stint) and have been working on," McDermott said.

"We (he and Vaughan) talked a lot about looking for four first and then your last option is hitting a one. 

"I probably got into a little bit of mindset early on in my innings that I was just looking for one or two and then missing out on boundary options early.

"That's about as simple as it is."

Qantas T20I tour of New Zealand 2021

Australia squad: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Daniel Sams, Tanveer Sangha, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), Hamish Bennett, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, *Martin Guptill (pending fitness test), Kyle Jamieson, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. *Finn Allen (on stand-by for Guptill)

1st T20: February 22, Hagley Oval, Christchurch, 5pm AEDT

2nd T20: February 25, University of Otago Oval, Dunedin, 12noon AEDT

3rd T20: March 03, Sky Stadium, Wellington, 5pm AEDT

4th T20: March 05, Eden Park, Auckland, 5pm AEDT

5th T20: March 07, Bay Oval, Tauranga, 12noon AEDT

All matches will be shown live in Australia on Fox Cricket and Kayo