Nathan McSweeney - evolving in England, adapting in India

Australia A were reduced to 104 for 5 on a fairly bouncy track in the first one-dayer against India A in Puducherry. The crowd was getting behind India's attack and the oppressive heat was getting to Nathan McSweeney. He hadn't converted his starts in the preceding four-day series and had missed out on Australia's Test squad. But here, he was calmly steering his team out of trouble.

McSweeney forged a 141-run partnership with captain Will Sutherland and carried Australia A to 274, which proved well beyond India A's reach. McSweeney alone was responsible for 123 of those runs.

"Yeah, I think playing a lot of cricket in England definitely helps your batting," McSweeney said after the first India A vs Australia A one-dayer in Puducherry. "You learn on the run, you're never too far away from your next hit. The ability to play a lot of one-day cricket, I feel like my game-management is definitely better. I didn't quite get a hundred playing for Northants, so it was nice to get a big score here and really put us in a good position to have a chance of winning the game."

McSweeney's hundred was his second in List A cricket. More remarkably, he adapted to the conditions and chalked up a big score in what was his first official trip to the batting crease in one-day cricket in India.

"Yeah, I think that [pacing the innings in the heat] is a unique factor of playing over in India," McSweeney said. "You have to conserve energy, it's really hot out there. So not running too hard, which probably goes against a lot of the Australian way, but just to conserve your energy.

"I've played with Will Sutherland a fair bit now and we had a great partnership together. We ran well when we needed to and then [we] just took it easy when we didn't have to push too hard."

"Yeah, I think their [India's] spinners are obviously world-class in India. As an Australian coming over, that's a huge challenge," McSweeney told the host broadcaster after collecting the Player-of-the-Match award on Tuesday. "So, just trying to use my feet, sit a little bit deeper. Batting with Will, he's a lot taller than me, so we complement each other really well, and yeah, it worked today, which was very nice."

McSweeney looked cooked by the time he was dismissed for 123 in the 48th over after arriving at the crease in the fourth. But he wasn't done yet. He had allrounder Sindhu holing out with his offspin later in the evening to help rush Australia A towards victory.

McSweeney also rolled his arm over in the One-Day Cup in the UK and is relishing the opportunity to explore his secondary skill more away from home.

"Yeah, I think bowling has always been a part of my game," McSweeney said. "I haven't been able to impact a lot [with the ball] throughout my career, but it's something I work hard at and I bowl at the nets as much as I can. So it was pleasing today that I could break a partnership. Bowling [spin] over in India is a lot better than bowling back home in Australia, so I'm enjoying my opportunities with the ball."