Adelaide: Australian pace bowler Michael Neser has said that a good batting display helped soothe his nerves and gave him the confidence to return with the ball and rattle England on Day 2 of the second Ashes Test at the Adelaide Oval here.
Nesar made a 24-ball 35 on his Test debut as Australia swelled their first innings lead to a massive 473/9 declared in 150.4 overs.
The fast bowler, who has come in place of the Pat Cummins after the skipper was ruled out of the second Test, then quickly grabbed the wicket of opener Haseeb Hameed in the 2.1 overs he bowled on Friday to reduce the tourists to 17/2 in 8.4 overs.
It has been a long wait for the 31-year-old Neser to don the Australian colours as he has been the 12th man more than a dozen times.
“(Batting first) probably got a bit of the nerves out of the way and I probably carried the momentum into my bowling,” Neser told SEN Test Cricket ahead of the start of play on Day 3 on Saturday.
“Even though I only bowled a couple of overs it felt like the ball was coming out well. I suppose that’s my philosophy (do good things and good things will come). I’m just looking to make my country proud and my family proud, and to be given the chance to represent my country is a dream come true.”