Mackenzie Harvey enjoying cricket resurgence after making move from Victoria to South Australia

Mackenzie Harvey knows the pressure of being hailed a cricket prodigy. Seven years after the innings which put him on the map, Harvey’s resurrection has gathered steam in South Australia.

Mackenzie Harvey has been where Sam Konstas and Jake Fraser-McGurk are now.

Harvey was 17 and still a schoolboy when he scored a 39-ball fifty against an England bowling attack boasting Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid.

The headlines hailed Harvey, the nephew of Australian all-rounder Ian Harvey, as the next big thing in Australian cricket.

He was thrust into the spotlight before his time and struggled to ever reach the potential which led to Harvey being named Australian captain at the Under-19 World Cup in 2020.

Five years on from that boundary blitz at Drummoyne Oval, Harvey was cut from Victoria’s squad and left at a cricket crossroads after failing to establish himself as a regular in his home state.

“It was pretty hectic to be honest,” Harvey said.

“There was just a lot of things going on at one time, it felt like. From the game, I don’t really remember a hell of a lot.

“I think I was just so caught up in the moment and trying not to get hit by Mark Wood’s bumpers.”

Mackenzie Harvey raises the bat after his fifty against England in January, 2018.

Harvey was 17 when he went on a boundary blitz against the English.

Harvey is far from the only teenage prodigy to face their cricket mortality a few years after being destined for the top.

The 24-year-old only needs to look across the changeroom in his new cricket home — South Australia — for inspiration.

Harvey is teammates with Jason Sangha, another batter who captained Australia at the Under-19 World Cup and was touted as a future Test player.

Sangha had gone from the wonder boy of NSW Cricket to watching Shield games from the sidelines.

Intent on reviving his career, Sangha uprooted his life and moved to South Australia.

Sangha is again being spoken about as a Test batter-in-waiting after scoring an unbeaten double hundred against Sri Lanka A and spearheading South Australia’s droughtbreaking Sheffield Shield title.

Mackenzie Harvey celebrates his century against Tasmania in the Marsh Cup.

Jason Sangha has enjoyed a career resurgence in South Australia.

South Australia has become the state of opportunity in recent years for cricketing outcasts.

Matt Short has gone from a bit-part player at Melbourne Renegades to an international and Adelaide Strikers captain, Jordan Buckingham a fringe state quick in Victoria to an Australia A representative and Nathan McSweeney has risen from a depth batter in Queensland to a Test opener.

“If you want examples of why you should move then those guys are pretty much setting the picture for you,” Harvey said.

“I think that just shows that the move has really helped them with the confidence in their game and just really being backed by coaching staff and players.

“They’ve been picked there because of the game style they have and they believe in that.”

Harvey has inked a one-year deal with Adelaide Strikers for BBL15, strengthening his position as an adopted South Australian.

He will have strong claims to a place in the Strikers top-order after finishing as the leading runscorer in the 2024-25 Marsh Cup, belting centuries against Victoria and Tasmania.

“I think the main thing for me and what I learned along the way is just not changing yourself as a person,” he said.

“You want to try and stay the same person that you are before that innings (against England), after that innings, no matter what you’re doing.

“It’s a weird one because you also want to feel confident in yourself that you’re able to make runs against an international side (and) hopefully then a state side or a Big Bash side.

“Expectations are there, but I felt it more on myself. Knowing that I could make runs there.”

Harvey has signed with the Strikers for BBL15.

Mackenzie Harvey raises the bat for Carlton.

Evan Gulbis had the job of helping Harvey resurrect his career after being axed from the Victorian set-up.

As coach of Premier Cricket powerhouse Carlton, Gulbis inherited a batter low on confidence but with prodigious talent he knew could be unlocked.

“I was just disappointed for him,” Gulbis said.

“Because when you pick a player at that age, you’re picking them on skill. They have got supreme skill.

“But I don’t necessarily think he was nurtured to learn the game the way he needed to learn the game to become a better player. That’s how I felt about it. I was disappointed.

“A lot of the stuff that we did was more about learning the game, just trying to be more comfortable in yourself. When you’re playing at the highest level, everything you do gets scrutinised.

“And when you’re so young you don’t necessarily have all the learnings and the coping mechanisms and the things to fall back on.”

Harvey launches to the boundary during the Under-17 national carnival.

Harvey (right) with close mate Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Gulbis thinks the second coming of Harvey — and struggles of Fraser-McGurk and Konstas after being thrown to the wolves — should serve as a warning for Australian cricket.

“The expectation is too much that they are going to succeed when you chuck someone like him in there,” he said.

“Very few have come in and started like (Will Pucovski) did or young (Ollie) Peake last season with his couple of opportunities. Or Punter (Ricky Ponting) back 25-30 years ago. Not many can do that.

“Having that grounding is really important. I also think there’s a bit of due diligence to select players that have that grounding because it makes for a safer space.

“In cricket you fail a lot and you need to be able to go back somewhere. Until you have got that environment where you know you can just rock up, not necessarily get the job done, but you’re confident in what you’re doing, it’s a very hard game.”

Harvey flourished at Carlton during the 2023-24 campaign, scoring 93, 140 and two rapid 30s in finals to help launch the Blues to the First XI title.

Harvey as a young cricket prodigy in 2012.

Harvey is caught behind while playing for Victoria in 2018.

Then South Australia — and the opportunity for a second coming as a state player — came knocking.

“Once I lost my Vic contract, I felt like there was almost two ways I could have gone about it,” Harvey said.

“Be real annoyed at it and almost hate the game and everything like that (or) go back to club cricket and just be around mates and have fun playing the game – pretty much the whole reason why we start playing cricket in the first place.

“I felt like that was the best thing about what had happened. Obviously it sucked that I’d lost my contract … I feel like once I have a clear mind (and) I am enjoying the game then I start to make a few runs. It all started to click a little bit in that season.

“I wasn’t really focused on how many runs I was going to make, I was just focused on enjoying the game again and being around my mates. Looking back at it, it was probably the best thing for me and it’s led to where we are now.”

Harvey has crossed to the Strikers from Melbourne Renegades.

Harvey says he wouldn’t take back the stunning introduction he made to professional cricket — and the intense expectation which followed — if he had the chance.

At one stage during that innings, he rocked back and leant on a cut short off the searing pace of Wood which had to be fetched by fans on the hill.

Another two hook shots from Wood’s bowling cleared the rope and the highlight of the teenage Harvey’s coming-of-age knock was a classy punch over cover for six off Liam Plunkett.

When he raced to his half-century, commentator Trent Copeland said: “Mackenzie Harvey, 17 years young. Taking on all comers today for the CA XI. He’s changed the momentum of the game. What an innings from the young man.”

Harvey has learned a lot about himself — and his game — since the day he announced himself to international cricket.

“I think it’s just having the right people around you, which is what I’ve learned now,” he said.

“If I could have the knowledge I have got now back then, I don’t know if it would be different or not.

“I would like to say it would be different because I have been through a bit more.”

Originally published as Mackenzie Harvey enjoying cricket resurgence after making move from Victoria to South Australia