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Sheffield Shield puts up contenders for Brisbane

(AAP Image/Dale Cumming)
Roar Rookie
7th November, 2013
4

The latest round of the Shield is the most important round of domestic cricket this year and the leading candidates have all featured in a final effort to get their names on the Australian team sheet for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba.

The team for the first Test has been marked in pencil for some time, but surprisingly some of the fringe players in contention for the final few spots have performed well so far this round.

Batsmen such as Chris Hartley and Mark Cosgrove have now pulled their rubbers from their pencil cases and are trying to get their names marked on Cricket Australia’s notebook.

Given bowler rotations are being implemented by CA, players such as Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner have been rested.

One could be forgiven for thinking that selectors don’t value the red ball format as much as they should.

The exclusion of James Faulkner for this round is particularly bewildering as his form in the last of the ODIs in India was nothing short of sensational. Discussion on the Roar about him was for the most part quite positive as well.

The batsmen we are all looking closely at are Alex Doolan, David Warner, Cosgrove, George Bailey, Cameron White, Michael Klinger, Shaun Marsh, and of course the punters’ favourite, Usman Khawaja.

Unfortunately a quartet of these (Klinger, Khawaja, Marsh andamp; Doolan) are currently in the ‘A’ team, and it’s looking grim as Hobart’s weather has been, well, quite ‘Hobartian.’

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It is doubtful there will be any action on day three, which would be a huge shame, although not altogether surprising given the time of year and location of the game.

It appears we may well have helped the English decide who their opening partnership will be, while at the same time denting a couple of Aussie bowlers’ chances of donning the baggy green.

Ben Cutting did look good on what was a flat wicket, but no other bowler really stood out. Glenn Maxwell bowled economically with flight and bounce, but very little spin and, like the rest of the bowling line-up, no wickets.

Copeland is not quick enough and needs a partner steaming in from the other end to really be successful. Henriques was quite bad unfortunately, and overall the Aussies gave the English batsmen to many balls on the pads or wide of off stump.

The openers took full advantage of their lack of penetration and poor line and length.

There is a good chance that we may still see the Aussie A bats get a chance on day four in what then becomes a two innings game, and hopes will be high that Alastair Cook decides to make a game of it.

Alternatively, he may choose to bat his own squad in the hope they will be able to get some form into their top order against a decidedly weak Australia A bowling attack.

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Turning to the Shield games, it’s been an excellent couple of days’ play, and because I have been on leave I’m lucky enough to have been able to watch a lot of the four games being played at the moment.

Victoria versus NSW
Fahwad Ahmed, David Warner, Cameron White, and Nathan Lyon were all eyeing a Test cap before the game.

David Warner played a nice knock to cement his place at the top of the order with Chris Rogers, full of good cricket strokes.

Warner’s innings was one of a man in form, and he punished anything not on a decent line and length.

Cam White put in a solid 48 but still appears to be struggling to get the big score that’s needed to nail down a spot in the Australian side.

Not going on appears to be a habit White has to get himself out of before being a serious contender for the number six spot.

Fahwad Ahmed has been disappointing on the back of a 6-for last game. He was expensive while only picking up the one wicket, that of impressive young fast bowler Sean Abbott.

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The leggie will need a big haul in the second innings to be considered for selection.

Nathan Lyon has continued his steady start to the season picking up figures of 2 for 58 off 26, perhaps not the spectacular figures some were hoping for, but so far the best of the Aussie spinners by my reckoning.

Queensland versus Tasmania
Four players of interest featured in this game, Cosgrove, Bailey, Hilfenhaus and Chris Hartley.

Cosgrove played a mature innings of 74 in his first game back from injury. In what was a promising start, ‘Cossie’ will be hoping to back that up in the second innings, and if he does he will leave his fate to the selectors.

George Bailey was on 34 overnight and failed to add to that score.

While not terrible, Bailey would have been hoping to get some runs in this game, but only being in the country for four days before the start of play on day one not didn’t help his cause, and it must be taken into consideration when evaluating his performance.

The selectors will be watching both the Aussie T20 skipper and Cosgrove carefully, with a view to sewing up that number six batting position. For me, one of these two will be selected, and currently I’d say it’s 1-0 to the big fella.

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Chris Hartley has been promoted to the opening position for Queenslandin a bid to supersede Test incumbent Brad Haddin, and at the moment is doing a fine job, sitting on 52 not out at stumps will not do his cause any harm.

Although the chance of unseating Haddin is small, perhaps a well timed century will help put him at the front of the selectors’ mind.

His glovework, in comparison to the four other wicketkeeping hopefuls, is a step above, which to me says that if he performs with the bat, Haddin may well be looking over his shoulder.

Hilfenhaus was nothing short of superb. At one stage he had bowled nine overs for eight runs and a wicket. His rhythm looked very good and he is bowling faster than most had been expecting.

At this stage, if Hilfy’s form continues, the selection panel will have no choice to pick him. He was my standout performer for the day.

South Australia versus WA
It’s all about Johnson versus Chadd Sayers in this game.

Phil Hughes is playing, but the announcement that Watson is more than likely going to play at the Gabba will have put paid to Phil’s hopes for now.

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Johnson snared one more wicket than Sayers but the figures could not have looked more different.

MJ came out on day one and picked up 2 for 74 off 16.3 overs in what was an expensive performance. The one top order wicket he did get was a good one, that of in form Redbacks batsmen Travis Head, with the other being that of the lower order hitter Joe Mennie.

Sayers, on the other hand, was very economical and his partnership with Rainbird helped restrict WA’s opening pair of North and Bancroft. Their miserly effort was a catalyst for a dramatic Western Australian collapse and he finished the day with one wicket from 21 overs giving away only 56 runs.

Sayers is winning this shootout so far, and we must take into account that this is on the WACA, Johnson’s home deck.

While this is only an interim report, it appears that some of the chips are falling into place for the first Test. We have genuine competition for spots and, for the first time in a while, real depth in both bowling and batting ranks.

If the team were picked today, of the players mentioned above, Hilfenhaus and Warner are the shining lights and the front runners for selection. Warner is now a lock for the openers position.

Cosgrove and Sayers have put in good performances and appear to have finished at stumps on day two equal runners up.

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The two men that may find themselves watching from the couch appear to be Johnson and Bailey, but as we know, cricket is a funny game and we wait for the second innings, as well as the Hobart weather, to see how the candidates respond.

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