Two worlds at the feet of our Central District Football Club and Northern Districts Cricket Club star Connor McLean

CONNOR McLean is emerging as an AFL draft prospect — eight months after being selected in the Australian under-19 cricket squad.

CONNOR McLean is emerging as an AFL draft prospect — eight months after being selected in the Australian under-19 cricket squad.

McLean, 18, has been invited to October’s AFL state screening at Wayville, where he will undergo a series of tests and interviews for club scouts.

It caps a big year for the Hillbank resident, who plays under-19 cricket and under-18 footy for SA, reserves football for Central District and B-grade cricket for Northern Districts.

After several years juggling both sports, McLean says he will quit cricket if he is drafted later this year.

“I love playing both,” McLean says.

“But if I get drafted then the decision’s made for me.

“It’d be a dream come true.”

McLean has cut his teeth in both sports at a local park.

For several years his dad, Darren, has thrown cricket balls at him for hours on end each summer then become the target he aims the footy at each winter a few times a week.

“If I didn’t have my dad to help me, I wouldn’t be able to keep my cricket skills up during footy season or footy skills over summer.”

Last summer the Northern Districts middle-order batsman scored an unbeaten 120 for SA against Northern Territory during the under-19 national cricket championships in Tasmania.

It led to his selection in an initial 30-man Australian squad for the Under-19 World Cup, though he did not make the cut.

A few months later, McLean, a centre half-back and centre half-forward, played all six games during SA’s winning national under-18 football championship campaign in the middle of this year.

“As I’ve gone up in the ranks, the seasons have got longer and the commitment more heavy, but I’ve been able to manage.

“There’s not a lot of down time in between — it’s one sport then the other.

“My preparation has to be good, my diet and recovery — I have to give myself the best chance to do both sports.”

If McLean is drafted, he will be following in the footsteps of such Central District products as Shannon Hurn (West Coast) and Sam Colquhoun (Port Adelaide), who passed up potential cricket careers for the AFL.

“If not, my plan is to stick it out at Centrals and hopefully play league football (next year), and I’d stay with the cricket.”