Victoria quick-thinking Fergus O’Neill says he is ready to embrace Test cricket, and the potential opportunity if Australia selectors come calling for him during this upcoming Ashes series in England.
The 25-year-old has further improved his credentials with another impressive season in the County Championship for Nottinghamshire. In his most recent contract in England, O’Neill took 26 wickets at just 16.38 and made vital runs lower down the order with an average of 57.00 with the bat. He has taken 47 wickets at an average of 17.06 over the course of two county seasons.
He wasn’t just doing it in English conditions: O’Neill had also just completed a successful Sheffield Shield season for Victoria, picking up 35 wickets at 18.80 and scoring 472 runs at 35.30 back in Australia. His consistent all-round performances took Victoria to the Shield final before they finished as runners-up to South Australia. That was his 200th first-class wicket – and at the absurd average of less than 20, showing again how consistent he is across formats.
Discussing how he might fare in England, O’Neill said: “I’ve played enough at Trent Bridgfe (Nottinghamshire’s home ground and a famous Test venue) to believe I’ll be able to handle whatever comes. Play an Ashes Test and he expects the atmosphere would not be too much for him if called upon, knowing the conditions in England.
O’Neill, for one, appreciates the old adage that records are made to be broken and knowing how strong Australia’s current Test attack is – even with the absence of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc in Mumbai – understands it will still be a tough ask to break into a squad dominated by 80-Test veterans Pat Cummins, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Lyon. If he does not get selected, it is more a case of keeping his form and being available when an opportunity arrives via injuries or inevitable changes to come.
The Victorian also responded to questions regarding his bowling pace. The fastest in October 2023 and not so he will never have express pace, but O’Neill states that has elite accuracy, movement and control. Citing bowlers like Vernon Philander, he gave an example of how skill and accuracy could be just as effective. He also added that when the pacers are firing along with him, it becomes a perfectly balanced attack which can go after the batters in many different ways.
O’Neill will spend the next few weeks increasing his fitness before returning for Victoria’s domestic campaign in September. The right-arm seamer, who is set for another county cameo before the 2027 Ashes, remains committed to continuing his push for a long-overdue Australian Test debut
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