After previewing Queensland’s aspirations yesterday, it’s time to have a look at last year’s runners up New South Wales.
The Blues made the grand final last year but even after posting a monstrous first inning score of 6/317 they couldn’t hold on at North Sydney Oval as Queensland used the small boundaries to get to the total with five balls to spare.
They of course finished second in the regular season, with a four wins and two losses record. Their losses came against the other two finals teams in Queensland and Victoria, before beating Victoria in the qualifying final.
The New South Wales Blues last year rode the wave of David Warner and Steve Smith to make the final, however neither of these players along with Nathan Lyon, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin will be available this year as they will be in the United Arab Emirates playing for the Australian national side against Pakistan.
Steve O’Keefe will also be gone for the Test part of the series and Pat Cummins for the Twenty20 series. Compounding matters for the Blues, Shane Watson has broken down with injury once again.
Other players within the Blues set up will really need to stand up and play a major part if the Blues are to make the finals once again this season.
Probable Best XI
1. Peter Nevill (wk)
2. Ryan Carters
3. Nic Maddison
4. Kurtis Patterson
5. Ben Rorher (c)
6. Moises Henriques
7. Sean Abbott
8. Trent Copeland
9. Gurinder Sandhu
10. Josh Hazelwood
11. Doug Bollinger
Players To Watch:
Sean Abbott: Abbot had a breakthrough series last year, being the top wicket taker in the competition along with a hefty total of runs to go along with it. Abbott took 16 wickets at an average of 20.93 on some very batsman friendly pitches and really helped New South Wales to go all the way last season.
Along with his wickets he also scored 128 runs at an average of 32:00 with a strike rate of 90.78. If the Blues are to make the finals this year he will have to stand up once again.
Ben Rorher: Rorher will have to guide the Blues team this season. After scoring 150 runs last year at an average of 30 he will have to go up a gear this year without the likes of David Warner who was the highest run scorer for the series last year and Steve Smith who captained the Blues.
Rorher will also more than likely stand up to captain the Blues this year. He is definitely a player to keep a close eye on throughout the series.
Major Strength: The strength for the Blues, with no doubt about it is their pace bowling strength. With up and coming pace bowlers like Josh Hazelwood and Gurinder Sandhu along with the experience of Dave Bollinger, the Blues will look to make full use of the new ball and make massive inroads into the top order of the opposition.
Major Weakness: Two major weaknesses are identifiable for the Blues. First up, their international talent that has gone overseas to play Pakistan and coupling that, a lack of spin talent.
With seven players being overseas for at least some of the series, it creates a major headache for the Blues. If Steve O’Keefe of Pat Cummins are in Australia and able to play for the Blues for any of the games during the series expect them to be selected in their XI, but there is a massive talent hole the Blues will need to overcome.
Full Fixture List:
Game 1: New South Wales vs South Australia 4th October @ Allan Border Field (Start time 9:30am)
Game 2: Queensland vs New South Wales 6th October @ Allan Border Field (Start time 9:30am)
Game 3: New South Wales vs Queensland 10th October @ The Gabba (Start time 1:00pm)
Game 4: Victoria vs New South Wales 12th October @ North Sydney (Start time 10:00am)
Game 5: New South Wales vs Western Australia 15th October @ Drummoyne (Start time 2:00pm)
Game 6: Victoria vs New South Wales 17th October @ Drummoyne (Start time 2:00pm)
Game 7: New South Wales vs Tasmania 20th October @ Drummoyne (Start time 2:00pm)
Series Prediction: The Blues have a relatively hard run through this season with four of their seven games against the other two teams in last year’s top three, which is exactly the same as the Queensland team. They will probably struggle with their massive talent pool missing for the tournament but I am ready to be surprised by the Blues, who when it comes to domestic cricket normally find a way to be at the right end of the table.
Well that’s the New South Wales preview for this year’s Domestic One–Day cup in Australia. I’ll be back tomorrow with the preview of the Victorian team.
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