Teenage cricket prodigy Mackenzie Harvey says he scared even himself sometimes with how comfortable he felt against England's one-day attack in his 39-ball half century.
A month after 18-year-old grade cricketer Jason Sangha scored a patient century against the visitors in Townsville, Victorian schoolboy Harvey gave England a second glimpse at Australia's Generation Next with a quickfire 59 off 48 in a warm-up match at Sydney's Drummoyne Oval on Thursday.
The 17-year-old is yet to even sign a rookie Big Bash League or state contract in Victoria but looked right at home for the Cricket Australia XI against England's first-choice ODI attack for this summer.
"There were some balls where I felt in control of the game and felt pretty confident," Harvey said.
"But then I looked up one ball and (Chris) Woakes was coming in and I just realised he has played Test cricket before and I've gone nowhere near it.
"That was probably the scariest bit out there but other than that, it was a great experience overall."
Harvey is the nephew of former Australian allrounder Ian Harvey, but said the 2003 World Cup squad member had little to do with his development because of his coaching career in England.
"I haven't really had much contact with him unless I go over there," the teenager said.
"I've watched a couple of videos of him bowling and batting and got a little bit off him there. Apart from that, it's just what I've learned from other coaches."
In his first senior match outside of club cricket, Harvey hit four sixes, including one over third man off the first ball he faced from quick Mark Wood and another over cover from Liam Plunkett.
Harvey was also dominant on the drive and cut, playing all over the ground in an innings that impressed England ODI captain Eoin Morgan.
It came just a month after he reached three figures against the Pakistan under-19 team, cementing his spot as a player of the future in Australia's pathways system.
"That gave me a fair bit of confidence," he said.
"The past couple of games I've just been backing myself.
"So whatever is thrown at me, I feel like I'm confident enough to play my shots no matter what the standard.
"Even though it was a full-strength England team I felt confident out there (I) was able to back my skills."
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