New coach Justin Langer makes his mark early as Mitchell Swepson prepares for a busy few months in England, Zimbabwe and India
Fresh spin quick to impress Swepson
Australia T20 spinner Mitchell Swepson says men’s head coach Justin Langer has already made his mark with the national side in just his first week in the role.
Swepson was part of the playing group that assembled in Brisbane last Friday as part of a three-day training camp ahead of Australia’s one-day unit departing for England for five matches against the world’s No.1 50-over side.
Langer officially started as men’s head coach on May 21 but wasted no time in setting the record straight and explaining his expectations of his troops.
The 47-year-old has preached humility, respect, honest and mateship as some of his core values and Swepson says those principles have been taken on board by the Australians.
“He was great,” Swepson told cricket.com.au when asked about Langer.
“We all met for a team meeting on the first day of camp and he laid out how he wants to go about things.
“Some of the things he went over I thought were great points and make great teams if you can gather all those things together and create the environment which he wants, which is for the team to gel really well together.
“During the center-wicket game scenarios he was umpiring out in the middle, so he gave his two bobs worth.
“It was good to have him out there in the thick of things and I think he’s come in and made a mark immediately, which is great to see from a coach.”
Swepson will link-up with Langer and Australia for the T20 portion of the Qantas Tour of England, a sole T20 fixture at Edgbaston on July 27, before heading to Zimbabwe for a T20 tri-series against the hosts and Pakistan.
The 24-year-old has never played a game in England, or even been to Zimbabwe, but the same can’t be said about the subcontinent where he will visit in August as part of Australia A’s one-day and four-day teams.
Swepson has travelled to India three times, the first time in 2015 with the National Performance Squad and most recently as part of a spin quartet on Australia’s 2017 Test tour.
Last year, Swepson didn’t play a game as India beat a valiant Australia 2-1 in a pulsating series, but the lessons he learned training alongside Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe and Ashton Agar were immeasurable.
“It was an unreal experience,” he said of the 2017 tour.
“I think the biggest thing was obviously every time you go to a new country and get to bowl on wickets that you’ve never bowled on before, that experience was great for me.
“We had four spinners on that tour and a couple of spin coaches as well, so I was a bit of a sponge and just soaked up how they go about their training and also asked a heap of questions.
“To be able to bowl in the nets next to guys like ‘Gaz’ (Lyon) and ‘SOK’ (O’Keefe) and Ash (Agar), and even ‘Maxi’ (allrounder Glenn Maxwell) was in the nets a lot, it was just a great experience.”
Swepson says the national selectors have told him to keep it simple and keep doing what he’s doing, which is spin the ball big and continue to attack.
That approach sounds like the mantra of another Australian leg-spinner, but Swepson knows he must improve his consistency before entertaining any comparisons with the King of Spin.
“Everyone compares wrist-spinners to the great Shane Warne,” he said. “What he did for Australian cricket was quite amazing.
“It’s always in the back of people’s minds that a great leg-spinner in a team can be really threatening.
“In that sense it’s good for me that I’ve got that string to my bow and that I can give the ball a decent rip.
“The next step is trying to be consistent to get to that next level and still turn the ball big.”
Qantas tours of England and Zimbabwe
ODI squad: Tim Paine (c), Aaron Finch (vc), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye
T20 squad: Aaron Finch (c), Alex Carey (vc), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth
Qantas Tour of England
June 7: Warm-up v Sussex, Hove (D/N)
June 9: Warm-up v Middlesex, Lord's
June 13: First ODI, The Oval (D/N)
June 16: Second ODI, Cardiff
June 19: Third ODI, Trent Bridge (D/N)
June 21: Fourth ODI, Durham (D/N)
June 24: Fifth ODI, Old Trafford
June 27: Only T20, Edgbaston (D/N)
Qantas T20I tri-series Tour of Zimbabwe
Sunday, July 1: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan
Monday, July 2: Pakistan vs Australia
Tuesday, July 3: Australia vs Zimbabwe
Wednesday, July 4: Zimbabwe vs Pakistan
Thursday, July 5: Pakistan vs Australia
Friday, July 6: Australia vs Zimbabwe
Sunday, July 8: Final