Nic Maddinson will replicate his extraordinary form against England Lions, states Chris Rogers
Chris Rogers is confident that Nic Maddinson will replicate his extraordinary Shield form when Australia A take on England Lions on Saturday. The latter witnessed everything go against him since last year but staged a remarkable comeback in the Shield, piling 648 runs at an average over 92.
He's the forgotten man of Australian cricket, but the kind of performances he has shown in this season's Sheffield Shield competition is a testament to his mental character. Nic Maddinson had seen everything go against him since last year but the southpaw staged a remarkable comeback by piling off 648 runs at an average of 92.57 in this year's premier domestic competition.
The promising left-hander made 95 in the first innings of the just-completed match against New South Wales, before adding an unbeaten 105 in the second. Former Test opener Chris Rogers now wants Nic Maddinson to replicate his extraordinary Marsh Sheffield Shield form under the "spotlight" of this weekendâs high-stakes Australia A tour game against the England Lions.
"It is fascinating to see how you can find one format of the game pretty hard and then walk into another format and brain (dominate) it, probably seems like he's pretty comfortable with the long format at the moment, so he must be doing something mentally to be able to cope with those kinds of challenges. I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes with a bit more spotlight as well, because that's another issue he's going through," said Rogers as quoted by Cricket Australia.
Last November, the former pulled out of an Australia A game in Perth against Pakistan that was widely touted as a 'bat-off' for top-order players ahead of the Test summer. Rogers has stated that the upcoming game against the Lions, essentially the equivalent of an âAâ team, is an opportunity for Maddinson to show heâs in a good space to handle the added scrutiny.
"Any time he's picked in these kinds of sides, it's going to be his own personal challenge with what he's going through with his mental health. It would be great to see him come out and play really well, and show he's gone through a bit of a process and come out the other side." he added.