Quantcast

Neser chases historic double in Shield final

Queensland's under-rated fast-bowling allrounder could join an exclusive club of two with a win over Tasmania

Queensland quick Michael Neser will be chasing a rare slice of Australian cricket history when he takes the field in Friday's Sheffield Shield final against Tasmania in Brisbane.

Neser, who sits third on the list of Shield wicket-takers this summer, is in line to become just the second player to claim the Shield-BBL double in the same season, should the Bulls prevail against the Tigers in the forthcoming decider.

"Who's the other one to have done it?" the 27-year-old asks cricket.com.au, fresh from a quick haircut to ensure he looks the part for arguably the biggest dance on Australia's domestic cricket calendar.

The answer is Fawad Ahmed, who achieved the feat two seasons ago, when he was part of the title-winning Bushrangers and Thunder teams in the first-class and Twenty20 tournaments respectively.

Now Neser can repeat the feat of the similarly underrated Fawad, having played a key role in Adelaide Strikers' march to the BBL|07 crown in February.

"I'm pumped – I was part of the Shield final against Tassie when we drew, and that feels like an eternity ago," says Neser, referring to the 2012-13 decider that earned the Tigers the trophy as minor premiers.

"So to be back again with a chance to win a Shield, it's pretty big for me.

"It just happens to be Tassie again.

"I was around the group when we won it the year before that, too, so to be part of that squad and to see how much it meant to the boys who were in the team then … we all love Shield cricket, we all want to win it.

"And this is the last one for me – I've won the Big Bash, I've won a one-day comp, so if I can win a Shield, that'd be just amazing."

Bulls, Tigers to resume Shield final rivalry

Neither flashy nor explosive with the ball, Neser has been a largely unsung hero in Queensland's march to the 2017-18 Shield final, picking up 37 wickets along the way at 19.70 and earning a place in cricket.com.au's Shield Team of the Year.

He has honed his swing-bowling craft with the help of Andy Bichel at the Bulls and Jason Gillespie at the Strikers, and before that, picked up tips from seasoned bowling coaches Ashley Noffke and Joe Dawes, as well as former champion Test quick Ryan Harris.

They're lessons he has heeded impressively, while he has also benefited from the introduction of the Dukes ball in the second half of the past few Shield seasons, producing some memorable wicket-taking deliveries in the process.

Neser strikes again with lethal in-ducker

"I've worked on my swing bowling a fair bit because I know I'm never going to be an out-and-out express bowler, blasting batters out like Pat Cummins or Mitch Starc," he says.

"I've accepted that and I've worked on my skills, worked on a few little tricks, and worked on consistency; in years gone by, I wasn't a very consistent bowler."

Neser, who was born in South Africa but moved to the Gold Coast with his family when he was 10, turned heads in the summer's JLT One-Day Cup competition with a remarkable hundred, an innings that few knew he was capable of producing. It pointed to a talent – and ambition – that he is looking to build on as he spends more time on the park; this summer's 10 Shield matches to date is the most he has played in a single season in a career that has otherwise been routinely interrupted by injury or form.

Michael Neser's epic JLT Cup ton

"I used to be an out-and-out batter as a junior," he says. "I got picked in the Queensland Under-19s when I wasn't really bowling, because I had some back injuries when I was quite young.

"I've always wanted to be a batter but the way it's panned out, bowling took over.

"I'm still working hard on my batting and I'm actually a bit frustrated with my batting this Shield season, because I've got plenty of starts and I haven't really kicked on.

"I'm hoping I can kick on and get a big score in the final."

Neser takes six to sink Tigers

If he can manage that, and combine it with the sort of match-winning displays with the ball he's put together in recent Shield outings with the Bulls, Neser just might be joining Fawad in that exclusive club of two.

"Good trivia knowledge, that," he says, nodding after hearing the statistic. "I'll have to tell the boys that one … after we've won the final."