![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1877078bf42859770a5fcac095715f33.jpeg\")
Michael Neser of Australia holds the ball aloft after taking five wickets.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\nTwelve months ago, Michael Neser thought his Test career was over.<\/p>\n
The Queenslander, whose most recent Test appearance came back in 2022, was close to earning selection for last summer\u2019s Border-Gavaskar Trophy before he suffered a long-term hamstring injury during an Australia A match against India A at the MCG, spending two months on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
It came a few months after he had been dumped from Cricket Australia\u2019s central contract list, with the likes of Brendan Doggett and Sean Abbott leapfrogging him in the pecking order.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, after the last season, when I thought I was bowling superbly and I had my chance and I did my hammy really badly, I thought, \u2018Bugger, that could\u2019ve been my chance,\u2019\u201d Neser told reporters at the Gabba on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a long recovery. I think it was 12 weeks out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Neser of Australia holds the ball aloft after taking five wickets.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
After returning from the setback towards the back-end of the season, Neser decided to skip this year\u2019s County Championship campaign in the United Kingdom to focus on getting his body right for the 2025\/26 summer, a decision that did him \u201cwonders\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel strong again,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like my hammies are back to where they were.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite an impressive start to his Sheffield Shield campaign, taking 14 scalps at 24.28 for the Bulls across three matches, Neser missed selection for Australia\u2019s Ashes squad for the first Test in Perth. However, injuries to Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott opened the door for him to be added to the Test squad at the eleventh hour.<\/p>\n
Neser boasts a sublime first-class record at the Gabba, taking 99 wickets at 21, while both of his previous Test appearances came in pink-ball contests, so he inevitably came into calculations for this week\u2019s day-night match in Brisbane.<\/p>\n
“Safest hands in the business!” | 01:04<\/p>\n
National selectors made the difficult decision to leave out veteran spinner Nathan Lyon to make room in the starting XI for Neser\u2019s long-awaited return, ending a three-year drought for the seamer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always dream about playing for Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something that I live and breathe, cricket. To be given another chance, I\u2019m very honoured.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a brave call from the Australian selectors, a controversial one as well. Two days later, pundits and former players were still questioning the decision, with Lyon\u2019s absence a heavily-debated topic in the commentary booth and the media box.<\/p>\n
However, Neser more than justified his selection in England\u2019s second innings, taking career-best figures of 5-42 from 16.2 overs, a performance that put Australia on the cusp of a 2-0 series lead.<\/p>\n
Neser bagged his first two scalps under floodlights on Saturday evening, with Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope both spooning return catches back in his direction.<\/p>\n
Wicketkeeper Alex Carey, who was nothing short of exceptional with the gloves in the Queensland capital, was up to the stumps for both dismissals, not allowing England\u2019s batters to walk down the pitch and throw Neser off his lengths.<\/p>\n
Michael Neser took five wickets at the Gabba.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Earlier in his career, Neser understandably didn\u2019t like it when wicketkeepers came up to the stumps, but injured Queensland opener Usman Khawaja helped him understand the benefits of the ploy, which worked for former South African seamer Vernon Philander.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a way for me to keep the batters on the crease and bring the stumps into play,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done a lot in the past. The first time I did it, I definitely didn\u2019t want to do it as a fast bowler.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Uzzi told me, \u2018Just put the ego aside, because it\u2019s beneficial for you.\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve seen Vernon do it a lot in his Test career successfully, so it\u2019s something I\u2019ve brought in later on in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
The following morning, England captain Ben Stokes and all-rounder Will Jacks combined for a 96-run partnership for the seventh wicket to send a scare through the Australian camp, with the duo threatening to mount an unlikely comeback.<\/p>\n
Stokes falls to Carey & Neser magic | 01:16<\/p>\n
The ball had softened, the pitch had flattened, the conditions had calmed, while mentions of Lyon\u2019s absence became more frequent.<\/p>\n
However, Neser came to the rescue by removing Jacks and Stokes, England\u2019s last recognised batters, in consecutive overs to ruin any chance of a miracle fightback.<\/p>\n
A stunning one-handed catch from captain Steve Smith was needed to end Jacks\u2019 knock, while Carey, who was up to the stumps, pouched an outside edge from Stokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this pitch can go flat for a while, so all I was thinking was to go top of off,\u201d Neser explained to Fox Cricket during the innings break.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep it real simple and every now and then the ball would do something so I was fortunate enough to find the edges a couple of times there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shortly after, Neser sealed his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests by removing tailender Brydon Carse. He walked off the Gabba with the pink Kookaburra in his hands, raising it to the adoring Brisbane crowd, which had risen to its feet.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean I love the Gabba, the fans here,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my home, the Ashes is such an event for Australians, and to get a five-fa, it\u2019s special.<\/p>\n
\u201cA moment I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twelve months ago, Michael Neser thought his Test career was over. The Queenslander, whose most recent Test appearance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-332441","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cricket","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cricket","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}