Ashes 2015: Who is Brad Haddin's replacement, Peter Nevill?
Marcus North helps us profile Australia wicketkeeper...
Saturday 18 July 2015 17:13, UK
Brad Haddin will miss the second Investec Ashes Test at Lord’s for personal reasons meaning Peter Nevill, a man uncapped by Australia in any form of the game, will keep wicket. Here’s our guide to the 29-year-old gloveman…
RECENT FORM
Nevill’s superb performances for New South Wales in the 2014-15 Sheffield Shield – Australia’s equivalent of the County Championship – earned him his Ashes call-up. The Victoria-born player scored 764 runs in his 10 matches at an average of 76.40, a run that included two centuries and three fifties and earned him the Steve Waugh medal, an accolade awarded to the best player in the state. Nevill’s finest moment came in February when he posted his highest-ever score of 235 not out against Tasmania, clubbing 25 fours and a six along the way, and he became familiar with English conditions when he notched 78 in Australia’s warm-up game with Essex earlier this month.
NEVILL’S NUMBERS
First-class matches: 55
Runs: 3012
HS: 235no
Avge: 44.29
Hundreds: 6
Fifties: 16
Catches: 165
Stumpings: 10
NEARLY BUT NOT QUITE
Nevill would have been eyeing a maiden international appearance in 2012 when, off the back of a 570-run domestic season, he was added to Australia’s Test squad for the tour of West Indies with Haddin not travelling due to the ill-health of his daughter. However, Matthew Wade was given the nod and took his chance with a maiden Test ton in the third encounter in Roseau, cementing his spot and leaving Nevill kicking his heels. When Wade’s runs dried up, though, it was Haddin who returned, ensuring Nevill had to wait three years for another call-up.
HELPED BY HADDIN
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Nevill, who moved to New South Wales in 2008 after receiving limited opportunities at Victoria due to the form of Wade, believes Haddin has played an instrumental part in his growth, with the two featuring for the same team domestically. “Brad has had a massive impact on my career, he’s always so generous with his time and I can always learn a lot from him,” said Nevill, after initially being named as Haddin’s Ashes understudy. New South Wales have certainly been pleased by Nevill’s development, with the right-hander often figuring as a specialist batsman when Haddin has been in the side.
LEADER OF MEN
Not only has Nevill captained New South Wales but he has also skippered against England, doing so for a Cricket Australia Invitational XI in the build-up to the 2013-14 Ashes series. Nevill led by example for the home team, scoring 83 in the first innings before nudging Steven Finn into the gloves of fellow wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow, and then taking four catches, including one to remove England captain Alastair Cook.
Haddin has this reputation for counter-attacking and bumping up a score when the team needs it the most, whereas Neville is probably more orthodox and a guy that is prepared to bat long innings.
MARCUS NORTH’S VIEW
"He’s very skilful with the bat but don’t be fooled into thinking that he is a batsman who does a bit of keeping as he is a very natural gloveman in his own right. Batting-wise, I’d say there were a few differences between Nevill and Haddin – Haddin has this reputation for counter-attacking and bumping up a score when the team needs it the most, whereas Neville is probably more orthodox and a guy that is prepared to bat long innings. That’s not to say he can’t give the ball a tap, though! He’s done well to get ahead of talented keeper-batsmen like Wade and Western Australia’s Sam Whiteman in the pecking order and while that’s mainly down to runs and glovework, it’s also because he is a very mature guy who knows the game of cricket very well."
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