Workhorse McAndrew conquers challenges to typify SA fight

The South Australian spearhead was crowned player of the final for his six wickets and vital 60 runs in the second innings

Nathan McAndrew’s main goal when he moved to South Australia in 2021 was to play a Sheffield Shield match.

He felt he was up to the level and just needed an opportunity to prove it after being stuck behind the likes of Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland, Liam Hatcher and Harry Conway in NSW, as well as their three Australian quicks when they were available.

McAndrew sensed SA – who by that stage had finished at the bottom for four seasons in a row – would provide him with the best chance play state cricket, a decision that was justified immediately when he earned his Shield debut in the opening round of the next season.

The right-armer finished that campaign as the competition’s second highest wicket-taker after playing all of SA’s eight matches, and in those five years since his fateful move, has risen to become one of the country’s premier pace bowlers.

His latest performance was perhaps the finest of them all, edging out centurion Alex Carey to be crowned player of the final as SA staged a remarkable comeback across the final two days of this season’s decider to upset ladder-leaders Victoria.

South Australia were on the brink when McAndrew joined Carey early on Sunday morning with Scott Boland having struck twice in two balls to leave the defending champions 7-122 with a lead of just 59.

Twenty-four hours later they were toasting their second straight Sheffield Shield triumph – SA’s first back-to-back titles in the competition’s 133-year history of which they were one of three inaugural teams – after their 105-run stand flipped the match on its head.

“I just knew I had to try and get into a partnership with ‘Kez’ (Carey), that was all I was thinking,” said the 32-year-old, who contributed 60 in what was the highest partnership of the match.

“Kez wasn’t facing too many balls and he was just smacking everything to the fence and taking his one, and then I looked like an absolute mug that barely hit it off the square.

“But once we got into the partnership, we we’re able to score a little bit more freely and just gradually took that lead up to a total that we knew we could have a chance to defend.

“We gave ourselves a chance and that’s all you can really ask for with this group; we know how hard we fight and we we’re able to get it done.”

McAndrew’s double strike late on day four, followed by his wicket of nightwatch Mitch Perry early on the final day, were just as influential as Victoria lost their last seven wickets for 37 runs to see the Shield slip from their grasp.

McAndrew finished the match with six wickets after taking 3-71 in the first innings.

South Australia’s recruiting spree in the autumn of 2021 has proved decisive in their rise to the top of Australian men’s domestic cricket with Brendan Doggett and Jordan Buckingham joining the state at the same time as McAndrew.

Together the trio have formed the backbone of their championship pace attack over the past two seasons, while a fourth signing, Nathan McSweeney, has led the team to two Shield titles as well as a One-Day Cup in his two seasons as full-time captain.

Doggett and McSweeney have both played Test cricket since moving to SA, and coach Ryan Harris believes McAndrew probably “should have” as well, with no one having taken more Shield wickets than his 181 since his debut at the start of the 2021-22 season.

“To have not played any first-class cricket at that point in Australia – I played a couple of games over in New Zealand randomly (for Auckland) – but to have not made my state debut at 27, it was definitely a move out of just wanting to play,” McAndrew said.

“I felt like I was up to the level and I’d played good cricket in the Big Bash for a couple of years, but I just hadn’t been given that opportunity to play red-ball cricket in New South Wales.

“I definitely believed that I could play a role … and it’s been a pretty good move.

“There’s three pretty amazing guys (Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood), plus Scott Boland, so no matter how well I bowl … injuries have got to happen for me to get an opportunity.

“If anything at the next level ever comes up, then I’d be stoked. If not, I’m also so happy with what I’ve been able to achieve over the past five years after moving down (having) not played any first-class cricket (in Australia previously).”

Physically, this has been one of McAndrew’s toughest seasons, battling constant niggles in his knees as well as vestibular neuritis, a virus which caused nerve damage in his inner ear that also affected his vision and led to dizziness and heavy headaches.

Despite the challenges, McAndrew feels like he’s bowling as well as ever, which his season-ending Shield tally of 38 wickets at 23.42 also attests.

“Since Christmas, I’ve got back to my best and I’m just really proud of that … with some of the challenges I’ve had this season with vertigo and how much that affected my rhythm for the first half of the season,” he said.

“You’re always going to be sore as a bowler. I understand my body really well and what I need to do every week to get it as best as possible for the next game.

“I put a fair bit of work into my body behind the scenes … the boys give me a bit of crap for how much I stretch. But I’ve been able to play a fair bit of cricket over the past five years between Australia and the UK each year so it’s not anything I’m going to change.”

While teammates McSweeney (Northamptonshire) and Jake Lehmann (Hampshire) fly out from Melbourne on Tuesday to join their English counties for the start of the season, McAndrew will enjoy a well-earned rest before linking up with Welsh side Glamorgan ahead of the T20 Blast in May.

Sheffield Shield final 2025-26

March 26-30: South Australia won by 56 runs