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Matador Cup season review

23rd October, 2016
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Arjun Nair has been one of the best limited overs players domestically this season. (Supplied)
Expert
23rd October, 2016
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The Matador Cup wrapped up yesterday with New South Wales hammering Queensland in the final. Here is my wrap of what was a fascinating tournament.

Surprise stars

Cameron Valente (SA) 15 wickets at 17, plus 162 runs at 32 (strike rate 92)
I found it very difficult to split Valente and Cameron White as my Player of the Tournament. What an unlikely situation that is considering that, just four weeks ago, Valente had never played a white-ball match for his State.

It is also unlikely in the sense that Valente is an unfashionable player – a seemingly innocuous medium pacer who bats at eight. To the naked eye (there are no speed guns in this competition) Valente appears to bowl in the very gentle 120kmh-130kmh range.

What made him effective was his accuracy and ability to employ subtle changes of pace and angle on the crease. Valente can bat too, as we learned from his run-a-ball 100 against Victoria after the Redbacks had collapsed to 5-35.

Marnus Labuschagne (Queensland) – 275 runs at 41 (strike rate 91)
A surprise winner of the Player of the Tournament award, considering he scored almost 200 runs less than White, Labuschagne was a solid presence for the Bulls in the middle order.

He showed fine versatility in this role, having made his name in domestic cricket as a grinding opener in the Sheffield Shield. Labuschagne ended the last Shield season with an impressive double of 103 and 52 and the 22-year-old will be a player to watch when red ball cricket restarts.

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Jake Weatherald (SA) – 284 runs at 47 (strike rate 109)
The aggressive opening batsman had a sensational debut tournament for the Redbacks. Again and again, he provided his side with invaluable impetus in the opening 15 overs. Opposition pacemen quickly found they had little margin for error against the 22-year-old strokemaker, who plays shots all around the ground.

Arjun Nair (CA XI) 11 wickets at 23, plus 77 runs at 26 (strike rate 77)
Nair made a rapid rise through junior ranks thanks, in part, to his darted off spin. He made a point of bowling with greater loop in his first domestic one-day campaign and looked much better for it.

The 18-year-old has gained headlines in the past for his bag of tricks, which includes a carrom ball he learned to bowl by watching YouTube videos of Indian master spinner Ravi Ashwin.

Nair’s success this month, however, was built on his control of his stock delivery. I get the sense he is being fast-tracked – don’t be surprised if he debuts for Australia in limited overs cricket in the next year or so.

Arjun Nair of the Sydney Thunder

Underachievers

Jackson Bird (Tasmania) – four wickets at 71 from six matches
Bird has always been a better bowler with the red ball. But after the struggles of the new-look Australian ODI pace attack in South Africa, he had a chance to push his credentials ahead of a busy home summer for the national side. He missed that opportunity, bowling neatly but without any penetration.

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Dan Christian (Victoria) – 70 runs at 12, plus three wickets at 46 from seven matches
The former Australian ODI all-rounder was very handy for Victoria in last summer’s domestic one-dayers, stepping up with bat and ball when required. That was not the case this year, with Christian repeatedly failing to have an impact at key moments as Victoria missed out on the final.

Kane Richardson (SA) – four wickets at 61 from four matches
Like Bird, Richardson had a perfect platform to launch himself back into the national setup with a strong tournament. Instead, he may have cruelled his chances of an ODI call-up this summer by leaking runs, conceding almost seven runs per over across the tournament.

Mitchell Swepson (Queensland) – four wickets at 53 from seven matches
There was a lot of hype around the 23-year-old leg spinner leading into this tournament after his standout efforts for Australia A in the winter against India A and South Africa A.

In his three-first class matches against those sides for Australia A, Swepson hauled in 14 wickets at an average of 20. Unafraid to toss the ball above the eyeline of batsmen, Swepson gets heavy revs on his deliveries.

This makes him a fine prospect in all three formats. But he struggled to string together dot balls in this domestic tournament.

Team of the tournament
1. Cameron White (Victoria) – 457 runs at 76 (strike rate 99)
2. Daniel Hughes (NSW) – 386 runs at 64 (strike rate 86)
3. Alex Doolan (Tasmania) – 362 runs at 121 (strike rate 97)
4. Adam Voges (Captain) (Western Australia) – 301 runs at 75 (strike rate 93)
5. Callum Ferguson (SA) – 305 runs at 61 (strike rate 110)
6. Moises Henriques (NSW) – 414 runs at 69 (strike rate 95) plus four wickets at 44
7. Tim Paine (TAS) – 217 runs at 43 (strike rate 79)
8. Cameron Valente (SA) 15 wickets at 17, plus 162 runs at 32 (strike rate 92)
9. Arjun Nair (CA XI) 11 wickets at 23, plus 77 runs at 26 (strike rate 77)
10. Pat Cummins (NSW) 15 wickets at 18
11. Doug Bollinger (NSW) 15 wickets at 23
12th man – Glenn Maxwell (VIC) 211 runs at 30 (strike rate 123) plus six wickets at 24.

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