Neser pushes Dukes specialist claims

Michael Neser underlined his reputation as a Dukes ball specialist that has him eying a winter in the UK with a stunning five-wicket haul on the opening day and which left Western Australia's bid for a JLT Sheffield Shield final berth in tatters.  

Neser took 5-15 in 15 pinpoint overs for Queensland as they bowled the home side out for 138 by tea on day one of the Shield clash in the West.  

But unfortunately for the Queenslander, his batting teammates found life just as tough on a sporting WACA Ground pitch to bring WA back into the match. Neser found himself back at the crease and was not out on 22 at stumps on day one, and extended that to 42 on the second morning in a 72-run stand that gave the Bulls a first-innings lead.

And while the conditions have proved favourable, Neser was able to make the most of the assistance the Dukes ball can offer to enhance his chances of a spot on this winter's Australia A tour to England.  

"It was one of those days where things just clicked," Neser said after play.  

"The weather was tough, it was quite hot, but everything just clicked.  

"It's been a couple of games building now. I've felt like the last couple of games I have been improving a bit, and finally got rewarded." 

Neser has collected 17 wickets with the Dukes ball since the resumption of the JLT Sheffield Shield. That gives him 51 Shield wickets with the Dukes in total, with this the third summer it has been used for the second half of the season.  

That puts him on equal footing with Victoria's Chris Tremain as the most prolific Dukes ball wicket-taker in the competition over the three seasons.  

NSW Blues veteran Trent Copeland has 49 Dukes ball wickets with the opening pair he claimed today in Hobart, while South Australia seamer Daniel Worrall has 43.  

"I'm pretty happy at the moment. That's probably my best performance with the ball since last year so I'm pretty happy with how I went," said Neser. 

The edge Neser holds over those contemporaries is his ability to swing the willow – he already has five half-centuries in this year's Shield competition and leads Queensland's batting averages with 47.10. That average that had been above 50 before his dismissal in Queensland's first innings today for the team's second-highest score.  

Queensland's performance with the bat means the bonus points that their dreams of an unlikely charge into next week's Shield final hinged on have eluded them.  

Whatever the result for Queensland's Shield campaign, it seems probable that Neser will be spending a second successive winter in the UK.  

He was a bolter in Australia's one-day side that went to England last July, a last-minute replacement for an injured Josh Hazlewood, but one of the few bowlers to enhance their reputation as an under-manned side was pummelled in Justin Langer's first engagement as head coach.  

Langer spoke glowingly of Neser's attitude last winter, likening to other great Queensland workhorses, and the bowler was on the fringe of the Test squad against Pakistan in the UAE last October.  

"The one I am really impressed with is Michael Neser," Langer said early into his tenure. "He reminds me a bit of Andy Bichel and Michael Kasprowicz. 

"They're just great people in the team, always smiling, and they just compete. 

"My (daughters) love the BBL and they don't like too many people in the opposition (of the Scorchers), but they like Michael Neser because he smiles all the time. 

"He's a really good person to have in the team, good competitor."