Interview With A Champion - Raf MacMillan
St George Cricket Club | August 15, 2024
By Nathan Anderson
Whilst it may seem a little pre-emptive to feature a 19 year old in our ‘Interview with a Champion’ series, it is not inaccurate. In the past season alone, young Rafael Macmillan captained NSW to victory at the Under 19 national championships, before being one of five New South Welshman to be selected for the Australian Under 19 tour of England. The team had success in both formats, with a 1-0 Test series victory and a 3-1 ODI victory. In the ODI matches, Raf was the leading wicket taker with 10 wickets at 11.7.
Success in England was followed up by selection for the Under 19 World Cup which was eventually held in South Africa. Many Saints followers would be well aware of Raf’s winning runs in the Semi-final, but he also performed very well against England (19* off 10 and 3/16) and the West Indies (29 off 51) in earlier matches. In the World Cup final, Raf took a three wicket haul against India to end Australia’s 14 year drought at the tournament. To top it all off, Raf returned home to help end an 11 year drought, winning the Belvidere Cup with the dominant St George first grade squad.
Whilst we are sad to see Raf depart for Tasmania, we are incredibly excited to see what he can achieve in the Apple Isle on his rookie contract.
1. Raf, if you look back on the season you’ve just had it’s quite a list. Captaining your state to victory at the national championships, winning a tour of England, flying to South Africa to win a world cup, then coming home and winning the Belvidere cup. Does it all feel a bit surreal to have achieved so much in one season?
Yeah, it does, it’s been so great to be a part of so many successful teams in a short amount of time. There is a different energy around a team that is winning, it makes you feel like you’re always in the game no matter the situation. Definitely a year I will look back on for a long time with great memories.
2. It might be difficult to choose, but is there one of these achievements that stands out amongst the rest?
I think winning the Belvidere this year has to be at the top of the list as it was something that the whole team had been working towards even before I was lucky enough to debut. Seeing how much it meant to the guys who had been working so hard for years to achieve it puts it at the top of the list. Also beating Manly outright makes it feel even better as they are a very talented team. The World Cup was a very close second as we hadn’t won it in over a decade and I was able to do it with some great mates.
3. Can you remember where you were when you’d found out you had been selected to represent your country? How did you feel?
I do remember, it was at a NSW pathways session on a Saturday morning when we were told, it was a pretty cool moment as I had been working towards that since I found out about the England tour midway through the 2022/23 season. It was also nice to find out about the selection with 5 of the other boys going as we were able to enjoy the achievement together.
4. You went over to England just before the grade season began and just after the Ashes had concluded. Did it feel a bit like a ‘mini Ashes’ against England?
Yeah definitely, at least for the Aussie boys, it was highly competitive through the series with some great team victories. Felt like we were always just ahead of the game and played simple cricket. It’s also great to beat the poms pretty comprehensively with the spirit of cricket never being brought into disrepute!
5. You had some great success in the ODI’s, particularly your 6 wicket haul and quickfire 24 in game 3. You also took the most ODI wickets in the series (10 at 11.7). What do you feel worked well for you during the series?
I struggled for some rhythm before that third game and just bowled until I had that feeling again. I think playing so many games in a short period of time you figure out your role pretty quickly, so training become a bit more simplified focused on training every day to do a specific job on match day. Also having good facilities, support staff and teammates always plays a factor.
6. You made your way back to Australia for a couple of months before you were on another plane to South Africa. Did it get a bit tiring flying all over the world? Where was your favorite place that you visited?
Yeah, it was exhausting:), I enjoyed South Africa even though we weren’t allowed to really go and see much of it, but it’s pretty different to Australia and we got to stay in some interesting places that I enjoyed. Going on a safari and seeing some big lions was pretty special. Also being able to go to Sri Lanka for 10 days (a preparation trip for when the World Cup was going to be staged in Columbo) was pretty incredible, such a hectic place and a completely different culture to Australia.
7. What do you like to do if you ever need to take your mind off cricket?
Golf and walking the dog, I’m a pretty simple guy so those 2 things take my mind of it pretty easily.
8. What were the conditions like in South Africa and how did they compare to England and the Australian pitches that you’re used to playing on?
I think South Africa was the most similar to Australia as they played pretty true but had some good pace and bounce. Never really played on a juicy wicket in England which was unfortunate and mostly played on flatter drier wickets than usual over there, but was still a different experience.
9. Did you ever think that you’d be playing a World Cup when you were younger? Is it something that was ever a dream of yours?
It was an ambition to play the world cup from when I was about 14-15 and seeing guys who played in the world cup like Liam Scott, Jack Edwards, and Ollie Davies go on to play state cricket was a bit of an inspiration as I saw it as the pinnacle of the junior pathway and an awesome chance to represent my country in a sport I love.
10. Although you had some great bowling performances at the world cup, there were also a few opportunities to show off your strengths with the bat. Was it satisfying to contribute to the team in several ways?
It’s always satisfying to contribute to the team’s success and it was nice I was able to do it with the bat as well as I have been working hard on my batting. It was nice to hit a bit of form at the world cup as well!
11. You put on a match-saving 89 run partnership (5-87 to 6-176) with fellow Saints junior Sam Konstas against the West Indies. Did you enjoy the chance to bat with him and helping him close in on his century?
Yeah I did, he is a great player who has his own methods and thoughts to help himself play his best. He is also highly competitive and enjoyable to play with so it was great to spend some time in the middle with him although a lot different to when we used to bat together in u/12s!
12. Of course, we have to mention ‘that shot’ to win the match against Pakistan. How many times did you re-enact it post-match?
A few times haha, still practice it every now and again.
13. It was obviously quite a nervy finish coming down to the last over with only one wicket in hand. Did you feel in control of things at the time?
Not at the beginning, the nerves and excitement of being in the position we were in with a chance to win the game to go to the final was getting to me and I was not concentrating as well as I needed to. But after losing a few wickets I switched on, and we scratched our way to the win.
14. You picked up three big wickets in the final against India. How much preparation went into the strategic aspect of the match?
There wasn’t a lot of strategy for me personally I knew they were great players of spin and with our pace attack so strong, I felt they would go hard at me. Also playing them in a practice match helped in knowing how they move around the crease and try to score runs.
15. Who was your roommate on tour? Did you all get on pretty well with each other?
I had both wicket keepers throughout the trip and got on well with both of them. Most of the boys have played together before the world cup so there was no time wasted trying to get to know each other, we could just get straight into it and we all got on great.
16. After all of this success you came back to Hurstville Oval for the rest of the season. Was there a part of you that just expected to win the Belvidere cup?
I wouldn’t say expected, but I think the lads put in so much work and we were so dominant the whole season that it just felt right that we had the opportunity to compete in a final and then to win it against quality opposition.
17. In the Belvidere cup you took 27 wickets at 19.37, which included your 6 wicket haul against Manly. Was it satisfying to play such an integral role in the season?
Yeah its always great to play apart in your team’s success, and a privilege to contribute to Saints who have always backed me and are such a great club.
18. You finished off the season in quite a bit of form. 3 wickets against Hawkesbury, 4 against Randwick-Petersham in the QF and then of course your brilliant 5/53 from 29 overs in the final. Did you feel as though you hit some form at the right time of season? Did you ever feel out of form?
After the World Cup I felt pretty average with my bowling and was trying to tinker with a few things, ended up with sticking to what I knew best and got into a nice rhythm at the most important part of the season. I often feel out of form but whenever that happens you just trust the stuff you’ve worked hard on all year and compete, and it usually figures itself out. It also helps having great support in the team and especially from our coach Waz who has done so much behind the scenes for us, from supplying snacks and drinks to always being around for a chat about anything, he is a great man.
19. Willowmoore Park, Benoni, Beckenham, Hove, Worcester, Northampton, Hurstville Oval, Alexandra Park, Lavington Sports Ground #1, Cricket Central. Is there a venue that you've enjoyed playing at most?
Definitely The Sydney Cricket Ground and Hurstville Oval of course
20. It’s been quite an adventure as you’ve made your way up the grades at Saints. Are there particular people that you saw as mentors as you came up?
Dave Williams and Murray Bennett have been 2 people that have helped a lot the past few years. Murray would always talk to me about my bowling when I would see him at training or games but it was less technical and more about the tactical and mental side which was extremely helpful and if I ever bowled well, I would get a big message from him which was appreciated immensely. Dave always looked after me from when I was younger coming into Greenies and grade cricket, he is an extremely funny man who just wants the best for you and will help out in any way he can. Special mention to Lochie Willmore for keeping me company in my first year of greenies where I spent a lot of it on the sideline, we always talked dribble and had a laugh. Not sure how enjoyable that was for him, but he helped a lot.
21. Unfortunately you won’t be with us next season as you’ve signed a rookie contract with Tasmania. How does it feel to be leaving the Saints?
Very sad to be leaving Saints especially after my last few years having the privilege to play first grade with great lads and talented cricketers. Hopefully I’m able to find myself playing for saints again before too long.
22. There’s already been a few Saints in recent years who have made their way down to Tasmania. How does it feel to be moving interstate and following in the footsteps of guys like Nathan Ellis and Steve Cazzulino?
I’ve very excited to have the opportunity to move down to Tassie and play cricket for a living, and hopefully I can follow in the footsteps of those 2 great saints and play for the state.
23. After achieving so much in one season, what’s your next cricketing goal?
I haven’t really thought about a specific goal, but entering a new environment I just want to try my best and work hard on my game and see where that takes me.
