With the cricket season already upon us, it is time for a preview of the 2017-18 Sheffield Shield season.
There has been some interesting movement in the interstate cricket market, and I will look at each team’s big gains and loses.
At the end I will give some fearless predictions for when the season is all done and dusted.
Dates
The season kicks off on October 26th with Queensland hosting reigning premiers Victoria. The season will be split into two blocks of five rounds, to accommodate the Big Bash. The first half will finish on the sixth of December, with the second resuming on February eighth.
There will be three full rounds of Shield cricket before the Ashes kick off on November 23rd, giving prospective internationals the opportunity to gain some form, or push for selection.
Victoria
Starting with last year’s winners, we see a significant number of key players moving on.
Mathew Wade, the current Australian Test ‘keeper and captain of Victoria, is leaving the Bushrangers in order to return to his home state of Tasmania.
Marcus Stoinis is likewise heading home, but in his case for WA.
Besides these interstate moves, we see retirements from two two-test wonders, leg-spinner Michael Beer and, the owner of the best made nine in Test cricket, Rob Quiney.
All in all, Victoria have lost six members of the squad which took out last year’s final, leaving the side with a certain lack of experience.
The new captain will be Test No.5 Peter Handscomb, and Sam Harper will be promoted to full time ‘keeper.
With the loss of key members, and at least their captain likely to miss more than half the season through Test duties, it is hard to see the Bushrangers backing up this year and making it four in a row.
South Australia
Last year’s runners-up South Australia have kept a fairly consistent team for the 2017/18 season. New additions to the squad include opening batsman John Dalton, back-up ‘keeper Harry Nielsen, and fast-bowler Nick Winter.
Due to young gun Alex Carey taking the role of full-time wicketkeeper, a notable omission for SA is long time ‘keeper Tim Ludeman. Ludeman has moved back to his home state of Victoria to play for Geelong.
With a solid team, and few losses to international duties, I expect good things from the Redbacks this year.
Western Australia
The biggest signing this year for the Warriors is Marcus Stoinis, having been lured home to WA after four seasons with Victoria. He will likely take the place of retired captain Adam Voges in a reshuffle of WA’s middle order.
(AP Photo/Tim Ireland)
A new captain has not been named, but former captain Shaun Marsh seems the most likely contender.
Besides Voges, another notable loss is fast bowler Nathan Rimmington, who has moved to Queensland after six years with the Warriors.
With the addition of Stoinis to an already strong side, the Warriors look primed for a big season. With prospective internationals the Marsh brothers, Ashton Agar and Hilton Cartwright unlikely to be missing too much of the season, I expect to WA to be competitive come the final rounds.
New South Wales
The only additions to a usually formidable NSW team are the exciting young fast-bowlers Charlie Stobo and Henry Thornton. This duo joins a Blues side which contains a competition-high six Australian contracted players, including both the Australian captain and vice-captain.
The Blues will be disappointed with finishing fourth last season, and will look to improve. It is hard to discount NSW, who as ever have a strong and deep roster. However, they are likely to see a hangover from their missing international stars and I think they will once again fall just short this season.
Queensland
Perhaps the biggest loss this season for Queensland is their veteran wicketkeeper Chris Hartley, who has retired. Replacing him is young ‘keeper Lachlan Pfeffer, a member of Queensland’s winning Futures League team last year.
Other signings include batsman Sam Truloff, and fast-bowler Brendan Doggett, a member of last year’s CA XI in the domestic One Day competition.
Besides Hartley, a notable absence is former Australian T20 player Nathan Reardon, who has not been offered a new contract. A surprise omission is gun batsman Chris Lynn, who has been overlooked while recovering from shoulder surgery. However, the Bulls claim that he may well be picked up later in the season after his recovery.
Queensland have made a couple of good signing this year, but their squad is in a rebuilding stage. I expect them to struggle against the more established sides.
Tasmania
Coming in at the bottom of last year’s competition, the Tigers have made some positive inroads into the future with some proactive recruiting. Along with Mathew Wade, fast-bowlers Nick Buchanan and Tom Rogers have been signed, as well as batsman Charlie Wakim.
(AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
Joining these players is new coach, and former Tasmanian fast-bowler, Adam Griffith.
An interesting situation has arisen with Tim Paine also retaining his contract. This means that the position of wicketkeeper will essentially be up for grabs between him and newcomer Wade.
However, as Wade is likely to miss much of the summer due to international duties, I expect Paine to keep the gloves, and Wade to play as a batsman only. This will leave Australia in the unusual position of their national ‘keeper not being the first choice for his state.
George Bailey will retain the captaincy, and look to guide the Tigers off the bottom of the ladder.
Predictions
Most runs: Jake Lehmann. After a couple of solid seasons, the son of ‘Boof’ will take his game up another notch this season.
Most wickets: Jason Behrendorff. After coming so close in 2013-14 season, “The Dorff” will finally fulfil his potential and take out the top gong with 50+ wickets for the season.
Best wicketkeeper: Alex Carey. The Redback’s athletic new ‘keeper will continue his ascent and be the standout wicky for the year.
Surprise player: Joe Burns. After somehow being forgotten by all and sundry, the former Test opener will remind the fans and selectors alike what a quality player he is.
Surprise team: Tasmania. With some good new signings and a new coach, expect Tasmania to put in a much better show this season.
Last Place: Queensland. With some notable losses, and likely to lose their two best players to the international summer, it’s hard to predict Queensland will be anything but bottom of the table come Round 10.
First Place: South Australia. With a solid team and few losses to international duty, South Australia will win a close-fought final against runners-up, Western Australia.
dan ced
Guest
Wade is one of the worst cricketers I've ever seen. I refuse to support an AUS team that thinks he's even vaguely useful. When he plays a pull shot he looks like a hamster swinging a toothpick, and gets out slogging most of the time for single digit scores.. and he can't keep to save his life. Just bring Alex Carey in who now has the shield record for most keeper dismissals in a season, and takes acrobatic catches. It's a no brainer. Bring Sayers in at the same time and you have a great wicket taking paring. If you're not going to bowl Maxwell.. he is a pointless inclusion. He's clearly not going to be our "shakib". I will let them persist with Renshaw and Handscomb, but Warner has to have been bloody close to getting dropped before getting that century. His away form has been atrocious. I'm also one that thinks Zampa would do better than Lyon.
Mark L
Guest
I agree with your sentiment Chris but bonus points are only available in the first innings of each team. It's still 1 point each for a draw I believe and 6 for a win. But maybe more points could be offered for a draw to encourage teams to stick it out and save the game?
JohnB
Guest
Are they giving bonus points in the 2nd innings now? Not just the first?
JohnB
Guest
Milenko not there?
Rellum
Roar Guru
I personally think the old system was a much better system and fairer than the new one. Battling out a draw would rob the other team of points and give you some, which is much like the result you get in Test cricket. I would be open to tweaking it but it should be debated before implemented. Were we not reverting back to the old one this season. I guess not, that would be an admission of making a mistake from Pat Howard.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Hartley is a massive loss for us. His ability to halt the regular batting collapses will be sorely missed this year. Those collapses happen far to often for us to get close to the final. Burns and Heazlett will need to carry the team, then we might be able to take advantage of a stronger batting line up in the second half of the season. Everyone will need to play well all season.
Rellum
Roar Guru
I think this season will be played out between WA, Vic and SA. NSW won't be far behind, it just depends how much they take advantage of their full strength team( well as much as Pat Howard will allow them to field a full strength team) in the first 3 rounds. QLD and Tassie will battle it out for the spoon. Tassie are favorites for last place right now for me.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Just wish they'd change-up the points system that discourages the sort of play that Australia needs to encourage to be able to do better at test level. Where batting 5 sessions for a draw can see you get less points out of a match than having a slog and getting bowled out and losing. For instance. If a team is set 500 to win in 4 sessions, if they smashed their way to 350 in under 100 overs before being bowled out and losing that innings would secure them 1.5 bonus points, while if they ground their way to a draw but in doing so were 200 or under at the 100 over mark as they batted for survival, they would get no bonus points and only get 1 point for achieving the draw. So a team can be better off scoring faster but losing, than batting to save the game. No wonder our test cricketers aren't great at batting for a draw in the fourth innings.
Sideline Commentator
Roar Guru
I really think Tassie might surprise some people, particularly at home. But I think you are right about the bowling. I like Rainbird but he needs to get a little more consistency. Without Bird, they will struggle, particularly if the pitches this year are as flat as they have been.
JohnB
Guest
Just nice to be talking about sport and not money, after the rugby season and cricket season we've just been going through!
BurgyGreen
Guest
Tassie was well below first class standard last season, but I'm starting to be cautiously optimistic that a new coach can change things for the better. The big issue is the bowling, with only Bird and Faulkner representing any real quality, and the young quicks have consistently failed to impress. I'd like to see this team: 1. Wade (Silk when Wade's on international duty) 2. Dunk 3. Bailey (c) 4. Doolan 5. McDermott 6. Webster 7. Paine (wk) 8. Faulkner 9. Boyce 10. Bird 11. Fekete McDermott in particular has the makings of a very, very good batsman in my opinion and could use a season down at 5 to properly settle into Shield cricket after flashes of brilliance last season. The experience in the top 4 is crucial to the team regaining some confidence and solidity. With Paine and Faulkner at 7 and 8 we bat deep. As far as predictions go, I can't go past WA who have been close to a Test-quality side for several seasons now. SA would probably be my second pick, they are starting to build a very strong team with some gun players and an experienced and effective attack led by Sayers. Victoria also in the mix. The Bulls like Tassie look to be in trouble this season. Very inexperienced squad. They will hope for big contributions from Burns, Swepson and Wildermuth. I'm looking forward to seeing how Sam Heazlett goes this season though.
Don Freo
Guest
Wells did it all in about 2 innings. Too fragile too often. Really good fieldsman, though.
Andy Hill
Roar Pro
Lets see mate. I am confident we can back it up for a 4th year. I would have liked to have seen Quiney still around the squad for the experince, but we do still have White and Christian who are well experienced and Finch and Holland coming into their prime years and looking like they are really maturing and performing. Will be interesting to see if young Pucovski gets a game when the test players are unavailable. He looks a great prospect.
Andy Hill
Roar Pro
Wells and Mackin stiff to miss out on your XI Don, considering they were two of the best performers for WA last season.
Rellum
Roar Guru
There is no way Pat Howard or CA will let Stanlake play a full season, if he is even fit. But you are right, if he doesn't we just don't have the wicket taking ability to win the thing. Nesser is a good bowler but really the rest are at best all first change options, even Nesser is really a first change bowler. He can swing it though. He got the duke ball to sing bit last season. Swepson needs a big season for QLD and his national hopes. I can't see us getting near the final. Our batsmen as weak as well. Of the first choice top 6 most are either injured or with the national team.
Sideline Commentator
Roar Guru
With a couple of exciting new young quicks coming through in Stobo and Thornton, don't be surprised if you see NSW doing just that this year. Dougy and Copeland are veterans near the end, I think NSW will hope they pass on their knowledge and habits to the young guys this season but start to move on.
Sideline Commentator
Roar Guru
WA have a very good bowling team, if they stay fit. Better than some international sides. Be interested to see how/if they fit in NCN, after his year off due to injury. He's still in the Shield squad. I won't be surprised (nor can I blame him) if he sticks to limited overs.
AREH
Roar Guru
It's going to be really interesting; especially in Maxi Klinger is fighting for a guaranteed spot. Good signs for WA, appear to have strengthened their depth even more.
Don Freo
Guest
Lyon will be the one in the tests but Agar should play all the ODIs and any T20s. Paris, when fit, will rival Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood as the best quick in Oz.
Don Freo
Guest
Shaun is a quite man whose value has always been to keep team spirit up by mateship. He'd probably suggest others do the on field leading. Mitch has been a leader from the start. His captaincy of the Oz U19 World Cup was the first wave of that flag. Did a great job in a once off in India a few years back too. Turner, of course, has captained a number of Oz Youth and U 23 teams.