Mitchell Swepson

Any young leg-spinner hailing from Brisbane draws immediate comparison to Shane Warne. However, Mitchell Swepson has paved his own path to the top, by relying on flat trajectory flippers and 'skidders' with the occasional loopy delivery, and has already made the selectors sit up and take notice of his unique ability to make flat-trajectory deliveries turn significantly.

Swepson had a golden run in his first two Sheffield Shield seasons, taking 17 wickets in 6 matches in his 2015/16 season. He was particularly impressive for Australia A against South Africa A and India A, bagging 14 wickets in just 3 first-class matches at an average of 19.35 including a 4/33 against the South African side and a 4/78 against the Indian side; two formidable batting line-ups.

He was lauded for his quick-arm action and his deceptive flipper which many batsmen failed to read as the ball hurried on to them.

His progressively improving bowling and his consistent performances in Shield cricket earned him a call-up to the national side when they toured India in early 2017. However, he did not get a game, as Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe were preferred ahead of him. He was also called up for the Bangladesh tour in August 2017, and he was unlucky again to not make it to the playing XI. His international debut eventually came in the shortest format - in a T20I against England in 2018. His Test debut eventually came in the 2021 tour to India and his ODI debut came in the following year.

Swepson was roped in by the Brisbane Heat for the 2015/16 Big Bash League and has played for them since.

by Rishi Roy