Brisbane Heat hero Nathan McSweeney now aims to hurt home state

Nathan McSweeney is happy to split his cricketing allegiances between the Brisbane Heat and South Australia.

He’s a proud Queenslander and captained the Brisbane Heat to BBL glory, but don’t expect Nathan McSweeney to show the Bulls any mercy on his return to Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup duty for South Australia.

McSweeney skippered the Heat for the final four games of their BBL campaign in the absence of Test star Usman Khawaja and New Zealand batsman Colin Munro, who left before the finals series due to his contract with the Desert Vipers in the International League T20 competition in the UAE.

“It was a pretty easy gig for me, stepping in after Colin Munro, who hadn’t lost a game,” McSweeney said of the captaincy.

“Our bowling attack was excellent all year. They knew exactly what they were doing. It was pretty smooth sailing.”

Nathan McSweeney has turned his attention to playing for South Australia. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

However, having led the Heat to the title, the 24-year-old batting all-rounder now switches his attention to his duties with the Redbacks that include Shield and Marsh Cup games against Queensland next month.

McSweeney – who also captained the Prime Minister’s XI last month against Pakistan – debuted for the Bulls in 2018 but, after playing only five matches for his home state, moved to South Australia in 2021 for more opportunities at first-class level.

“South Australia have been really good to me, and I’m thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me to play – I’m very happy down there,” he said.

And with his contract with the Redbacks not expiring for another three years, McSweeney is in no hurry to return home – unless it’s to play T20 cricket for the Heat.

“I’m really happy with South Australia. We’ve got a good team, we’re building something and hopefully we can start winning a few more games,” he said.

“It’s also important for the Heat that there’s a lot of core players here that play for Queensland. That just keeps that culture together, and there’s a few of us that float in and out.”

Those “floaters” also include star paceman Spencer Johnson, who after starring for the Heat this season – including a man-of-the-match performance in Brisbane’s 54-run win over the Sydney Sixers in Wednesday night’s final – will join McSweeney in returning to South Australia to play for the Redbacks.

“Queensland Cricket have been great to me but South Australia have been equally as good,” the Adelaide-born left-armer said.

“(They’ve been) very supportive and were there for the tough times. Hopefully, I can go back to them and perform in Shield cricket.”