Michael Neser

Neser was born in Pretoria, South Africa,[1] but moved to Queensland, Australia, with his family when he was 10 years old, settling on the Gold Coast.[2] There he began playing junior cricket for the Broadbeach-Robina Cats and made his first grade debut for the Gold Coast Dolphins at 17 years of age in February 2008.[3] He attended The Southport School throughout his teenage years where he competed in the GPS competition and was awarded back-to-back Paul Norris Trophies in 2006-07 as the school's First XI all-rounder of the year as well as the Westcott Family Trophy for First XI bowler of the year in 2007.[4] In the 2008–09 season he was selected to represent Queensland's under-19 team,[2] and in 2010 he was given a rookie contract with Queensland's state team.[5]

In the 2010–11 summer, Neser made both his first-class and List A cricket debuts in the Sheffield Shield and Ryobi Cup respectively, both for Queensland.[2] On his first-class debut against Western Australia, Neser took an impressive four wickets on the opening day.[6] In 2011 Neser was upgraded from a rookie contract to a full contract with Queensland,[7] and though he was performing well, regular injuries made it difficult for Neser to lock down a permanent spot in Queensland's team.[2]

In the inaugural season of the Big Bash League, Australia's new Twenty20 tournament, Neser played for Queensland's new team, the Brisbane Heat. He was impressive enough during the tournament that he was selected to play for the Prime Minister's XI in a Twenty20 tour match against Sri Lanka.[8] He changed clubs from the Heat to the Adelaide Strikers for future BBL seasons.[9]

As a result of his form for the Heat in BBL|01 and the Strikers in BBL|02, Neser was given a shock contract with the Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.[1] He made his IPL debut in May 2013, but the game did not go well for him. In his four overs Neser conceded 62 runs without taking a wicket, falling one run short of the most expensive bowling figures in IPL history.[10] Nonetheless, Neser's form in Australia remained strong, and in the 2013–14 summer he was strong in both of the shorter forms of the game. In the 2013–14 Ryobi One-Day Cup he was the equal-highest wicket taker for Queensland with 10 wickets at an average of 27.40,[2] and in BBL|03 he was named the Strikers' Most Valuable Player[1] after taking 10 wickets at an average of 19.90.[2]

Because of Neser's career-best form in both one-day and Twenty20 cricket, he was given the opportunity to play for Australia's second team, Australia A, in a series of matches against South Africa A late in the 2014 winter.[2][1][11] A back injury ruled Neser out of the entirety of BBL|04, and Neser hasn't reached his top form since.[12]

In March 2018, Cricket Australia named Neser in their Sheffield Shield team of the year.[13] In October 2019 he signed as an overseas player for Surrey for the first half of the 2020 season.[14] In October 2020, in the opening round of the 2020–21 Sheffield Shield season, Neser scored his maiden first-class century.[15]

In May 2018, he was added to Australia's One Day International (ODI) squad for their series against England, replacing Josh Hazlewood.[16] He made his ODI debut on 13 June 2018, against England.[17] In September 2018, he was named in Australia's Test squad for their series against Pakistan, but he did not play.[18][19]

In July 2019, he was named in Australia's squad for the 2019 Ashes series in England.[20][21] On 16 July 2020, Neser was named in a 26-man preliminary squad of players to begin training ahead of a possible tour to England following the COVID-19 pandemic.[22][23]

In November 2020, Neser was named in Australia's Test squad for their series against India.[24] In January 2021, Neser was named in Australia's Test squad for their series against South Africa.[25] In November 2021, Neser was named in Australia's Test squad for the 2021–22 Ashes series.[26] On 16 December, after captain Pat Cummins was ruled out of the second Test in Adelaide due to a COVID-19 close contact, Neser made his Test debut as Cummins' replacement.[27]

In December 2022, Neser was recalled to Australia's Test team along with Scott Boland after Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were ruled out due to injury, recording match figures of 5/56 and scoring 18 runs in his only innings with the bat. Despite the strong performance, Neser was left out of the XI for Australia's next Test series against South Africa in favour of Boland as Cummins returned to fitness.[28][29]

Michael Neser at ESPNcricinfo