Anyone remember the Sheffield Shield?

Sheek Agree with your thoughts that longer forms of the game are under attack from today's time deprived society. Its not that we can't be bothered to make time to watch or even play cricket for hours, its that there's now a plethora of sporting and entertainment choices, and many have to work on weekends or with flexible timetables. Condensing Test and SS may not help if the total hours played don't reduce much. The key would seem to be reducing the number of hours, which to preserve a decent skilled contest between bat and ball (the main criticism of 20/20) means you need faster over rates - not necessarily less overs. Any ideas on how to increase over rates? Would it be sacrilegous as a starter to suggest that they do away with drinks breaks and have a trainer hovering in the outfield running drinks to players in between overs and the fall of wickets. How about changing ends less often. The traditionalists would never entertain such changes but they might help SS get some sort of attendance. It seems strange that some of the best cricketers in the country can't attract any noticable spectator interest and must cost a fortune to run the SS competition, which other forms of cricket have to subsidise.

I'm not sure about the money angle, but I do think the points system creates an incentive for preparing results pitches. Better to win 3 home games and lose 2 than win 2 and have 3 draws.

I remember, just watch QLD do it again :)

I watched some of the WA versus SA match last weekend it was fantastic, there were cameras from both ends and even decent commentary. The match was extremely tight, a 1 wicket win by WA, Michael Hogan WA's No.11, hit a six to win! The WACA has only one camera but you can still get a decent view of the action.

i think you are right. But there are those players, ca are just to stubborn to play them. for instance i was watching a ryobi cup (yes i know its not the same) and marsh and voges put together one of the best partnerships ive ever seen completely rescuing the team. players that need to be included quick fast are: bailey voges marsh (he deserves a second chance) fergurson even rogers all though he is getting quite old. i also watched the tassie game the other day, and doolan and wells looked good also i thougnt silk could have gone on with his start as he also looked good.

I have to say the standard of batting around the Shield atm is atrocious. If you score 250 in the Shield now it's almost considered a good score. The bowling is of a high standard but I think that has been aided by batsmen trying to play million dollar shots. There are some promising young batsmen going around atm though (that gives me hope for the future). Marcus Harris has a good technique and is slowly starting to find some consistency for WA. Joe Burns for QLD is also looking the part (and has decent numbers to back it up). Nic Maddinson looks like a serious prospect (but still plays silly get out shots that come with being a 21 year old). I've liked the small glimpses I've seen of Jordan Silk for Tassie as well. Plus guys like Travis Head, Peter Handscomb, Sam Whiteman all look decent as well. The bowling is looking good for the future too and now with the emergence of two younger prospects in Agar and Zampa, our spin stocks have a possible light at the end of the tunnel as well. Australia's woes atm aren't down to a lack of young talent coming through (I think we are looking very good in terms of young talent, when compared to other countries around the world). It's down to a serious lack of readymade experienced players around that 28-33 age group. I think in 3-4 years time we can get ourselves back up to number 1 in the world again if we handle the youngsters in the right way.

It's looking the more likely option right now, especially if the rain keeps up in Hobart. However if QLD can get the last few wickets and contain WA to only a 50 run lead, or thereabouts, then they're still a chance. NSW have won their match (Maddinson hit 41 off 17 to finish it off!) and sit on top of the table (even taking WA and Tasmania's 1st innings points gains into account), albeit temporarily. As far as NSW are concerned here is the equation: If the remaining two matches are drawn then NSW will host the final against either WA or Victoria depending on quotient (probably Victoria.) If one of the ramaining matches is a draw and the other is won outright then NSW will still make the final but will be playing away to whoever wins the other match. If both the remaining games have outright winners then those two winners will play in the final (who and where depends on who wins) and NSW miss out. SA are officially gone now

Some good shield memories, QLD win in 1994/5 at the GABBA. Sell out crowds for that final. And South Australia's win in 1995/6 at Adelaide oval, great memories.

Matt, WA have the first innings points and NSW are well on the way to outright. Best positioning so far is WA v NSW final. Probably at the WACA at this rate. Mike Hussey is coming good for WA at the pointy end of the season.

SHIELD UPDATE: Tasmania have taken first innings points over Victoria by only 11 runs. David Hussey made a long overdue return to form with 112 but just couldn't get them over the line. Evan Gulbis took 5 wickets for Tasmania. Both teams now need to take outright points to make the final and rain has just started to come down which won't help either side. NSW have dismissed SA and are chasing 91 to win outright. They're currently 1/18 so need 73 runs with 9 wickets remaining. SA could only manage 127 in their second innings with Ferguson finishing unbeaten on 44. Hazelwood and Sandhu took 3 each while O'Keefe grabbed 2. Sandhu took 8 for the match which means he has 15 wickets from his first two Shield matches. Not a bad start for the young man! WA/QLD start Day 3 in about five minutes

DD, Some lovely reminiscing. The SS has always been a flawed beast, but a very necessary beast. As a youngster in the late 60s, you could see the last session of each day of a home match on ABC TV. This continued through the 70s, although I can't remember if whole days were shown. In the 80s, the shield final was always shown live, again on ABC TV. Radio has always been there for the SS, although it might have ceased in recent years. The SS has been absolutely necessary as a breeding ground for nurturing, developing & maintaining future & current test players. But one of the critical pillars has been removed. That being that the best players are almost never seen in the shield anymore. The comp simply cannot perform its function if the best aren't playing with/against each other. Furthermore, the up & coming young guns need to be mentored 7 tested playing with/against the established stars. I keep hearing that SS can never get back to the halcyon days of the 1920-30s when 10-20,000 would turn up daily for a shield match. Of course, today there are far more many alternate distractions. But what CA can do instead of wasting massive amounts of publicity on BBL, is give back some credence to SS, & help make SS more relevant to today's society. Cricket , at least the longer forms, is definitely under attack from today's time deprived, instant gratification society. But is that partly because we can't be bothered making time? Both tests & SS need a day lopped off, & trimmed to day/night. But the overall loss of playing hours would be minimal (30 hours down to 28 for tests & 24 hours down to 21 for SS). Day/night matches fit in better with people's lifestyles. The failure to find an appropriate coloured ball is a convenient excuse. The authorities simply don't care enough, so they're not trying hard enough to find an alternative. In 1978/79, WSC cricket played day/night super tests. That was 35 seasons ago! Provide creative packages. All fans aren't the same. Families deserve different consideration to weekday workers, for example. Put a bit of creative thinking into getting people back to the longer forms of cricket. Yes, it requires thought, rather than just chasing the quick money from T20. Finally, no comp will work unless the best are involved. So this means changing the structures of Australian cricket to ensure the best 15-20 players in the country play in most of the SS matches. And they should certainly be available for the final. But of course, CA won't do this. They talk about the eroding culture in the test team. But you wouldn't guess, would you, who is ultimately responsible for the failing culture, & failing standards, of our test team?!

It's a shame it gets no coverage as it's set up for a thrilling finish this season. With only 5 points separating first and last any team can make, and even host, the final. All teams are looking for outright wins so expect to see some very attacking declarations. Rain is predicted for the next two days in Hobart which isn't good news for Tasmania or Victoria. Victoria need 106 runs to get first innings points but only have 3 wickets left. Mike Hussey looks to be guiding WA to first innings points against QLD and could set WA up for the outright win as well. WA are currently 23 runs behind with 5 wickets remaining NSW are on top against SA. They've taken first innings points and have SA at 4/93 in their second innings, which is essentially 4/56 given NSW's first innings lead. If it wasn't for the fragility of the NSW batting line-up you'd have them well on top. Apparently the pitch is so seam friendly that Johan Botha chose to bowl pace, which I can only assume would be of the "gentle medium" variety!

It will be definitely be ready for the Ashes but I'm not of the exact date. I assume it will have to be ready a bit beforehand so it can be tested but whether that's in time for Shield matches I'm not sure. Maybe a BBL game or two?

I went up to the SCG yesterday having made time to see the first session, at least, but a rain delay sent me off in search of somewhere to watch TV coverage of the Test in Wellington. Will the new northern stand be completed in time for next season? Should be a great place to watch Shield cricket.

It's the forgotten competition. Cricket Australia doesn't even bother promoting it, which is tragic because the standard of the cricket is unbelievably good. I try to get a long a couple of times a season, but the Gabba is such an awful place to enjoy cricket that I can almost always find something else to do. (Allan Border field's lovely and wish QLD played there more.) A few years back I saw QLD versus NSW at the Gabba. There were maybe 100 spectators watching Katich (in record-breaking form), Jacques, Haddin, (Stuart) Clark and Hughes (remember how good he could've been!), against Watson, Noffke, and Kasprowicz. I remember thinking that, with the talent on show, better promotion might have resulted in thousands of spectators. These days, any self-respecting cricket fan should want to see Hussey versus Ponting.

The cupboard is not completely bare. Shield streams are on the CA site but they are fixed camera and limited to the wicket areas. You sometimes get quite good commentary for all that. Sportsfm - a community radio station in WA - cover all Warrior matches which is a huge bonus if you are a WA fan. You can access coverrage on the PerthNow site.