Western Australia captain Marcus North has declared he’s still Australia’s best candidate at No.6 despite again failing to find a big score in the Warriors Sheffield Shield loss to top-of-the-table Victoria at the WACA ground in Perth.
North made scores of just 20 and three in his third Shield match back after a disappointing Test series against Pakistan.
He has scored just 94 runs in six innings, but still feels he deserves to hold his No.6 spot in the Australian team in New Zealand.
“I hope the selectors look at my Test career and the form I showed in South Africa and England, and against the West Indies. I’ve played 13 Test matches and had three bad ones in a row, so hopefully the selectors can look at the bigger picture,” North said.
“There are a lot of good players across the country playing well, but I still feel that I’m the man for the job at No.6.”
Victoria’s come from behind win over WA keeps them in first place with captain David Hussey now focussed on securing the Bushrangers the home final.
The Vics fought back after conceding first innings points, to build a lead of 304 for WA to chase.
They bowled a struggling Warriors team out for 249 despite a Luke Ronchi century to ensure they remain ahead of their confirmed finals’ opponents Queensland on top of the Shield table on 35 points.
The Bulls can snatch the home final if they beat WA next week and the Bushrangers lose to Tasmania.
Hussey is looking forward to taking on the Bulls after the impressive win over WA that was set up by second innings’ knocks of 91 from Matthew Wade and 80 from Damien Wright, and good efforts with the ball from Wright and Andrew McDonald.
However the Victorian skipper said his team’s regular season job isn’t done yet as they aim to ensure the final takes place in Melbourne.
“If you see the last few Shield finals, the wickets have been dreadfully flat and ours last year at the Junction Oval was unbelievably flat,” Hussey said.
“Hopefully this year we get the home final because it is a massive advantage.
“It was a bloody great fight back (against WA) to get a lead of 300 and then two big wickets overnight probably set the tone for the first session.
“We played good, consistent but aggressive cricket and then (Luke) Ronchi gave us a bit of a scare, but he can do that.”
While Victoria begin preparations for a shot at the title, WA skipper North is desperate to get the Warriors off the bottom.
The battling side have not claimed a Shield wooden-spoon since the 1963-64 season, but remain in last place on 14 points, two behind South Australia coming into the final game against Queensland starting on Wednesday at the Gabba. North is desperate to not finish last.
“We are proud of playing for WA and we are as disappointed and gutted as anyone else is about the way we’ve been going of late. Certainly the wooden spoon to us is not an option,” he said.
“We’ve got one game left to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’re proud of our history and we’ll do everything we can next week to make sure we don’t stay at the bottom.”
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