Photo Credit: Sydney Thunder
Get to know 27-year-old fast bowling all-rounder Nathan McAndrew
What are you studying and where?
Civil Engineering at the University of Wollongong.
It’s essentially the design and building of infrastructure like bridges, dams, buildings and tunnels.
How long is the degree?
4-year degree full-time. I’ve been doing it very spaced out.
Cricket has been my main focus. There’s no immediate rush to finish it at the moment, but once I need, it’ll be there.
When did you start?
Been studying part-time since 2013.
Enrolled in 2012 and took a gap year to play club cricket in England with Hornchurch Cricket Club in Essex.
How long until you finish the degree?
I’ve got five subjects left. I’m on the home stretch.
Why did you choose Civil Engineering?
My Dad was a Civil Engineer, not that he ever pushed me to do it or anything, but I was always good at Maths and Science in high school and enjoyed being hands on.
Engineering was a pretty natural path for me I felt.
What do you enjoy most about it?
I really enjoy the practical work. Engineering is all about problem solving and no job is always the same. There is always little intricate things that separate each job, whether that be from an environmental aspect or a structural aspect.
Hardest subject you have done in your degree so far?
I can definitely remember it. It was Structural Design 3. There was a Structural Design 1, 2 and 3.
It was not fun. It was one of the back end subjects, and all my mates that were a lot smarter than me that could sometimes lend a helping hand, had all graduated.
At that point I was missing lectures due to playing Futures League cricket Interstate and 3rd and 4th year lectures aren’t recorded.
It always makes it a bit more challenging when you’re just trying to read off the summarised lecture notes rather than trying to grasp the whole concept. But I passed it somehow.
Hardest part about balancing cricket and study?
The biggest thing was just time management and getting into good habits to be able to stay ahead of the eight ball.
Not necessarily that I always did it, but that was definitely the key to making it all work.
It’s quite manageable if you can get into good habits but if you start slipping into bad habits, just doing cricket and you don’t bother about writing up your study notes, it goes a couple of weeks and all of a sudden there’s an exam coming up.
How does study help your cricket?
It’s just given me a perspective on things and provides an escape from just cricket. I don’t think it’s great to be constantly thinking about cricket.
It’s hard work but it’s enjoyable and it gives me great time management skills.
Name of Author: Sydney Thunder
The Sydney Thunder is an Australian professional cricket team competing in the Big Bash League (BBL). Based at Sydney Showground Stadium, the Thunder, along with the Sydney Sixers, succeeded the New South Wales Blues from the defunct KFC Twenty20 Big Bash.
