Matt Renshaw blasts a timely century

After a horrific first six rounds of the Sheffield Shield season, Queensland opener Matt Renshaw has returned to form in emphatic fashion, blasting 170 against Victoria to help the Bulls stay atop the table.

Their gap has been shortened though, with Tasmania recording a crushing victory over Western Australia, taking it by an innings and 87 runs. The Tasmanian bowling attack knocked over Western Australia for totals of just 67 and 277 as they surged into second place with just three rounds to go.

In the other match, New South Wales lost to South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground and dropped to third.

The closeness of the table ensures we won’t know the make-up of the final until the last game of the season has been played.

Here are all the big points to come out of Round 7.

Matt Renshaw puts Cameron Bancroft on notice
Runs have been hard to come by for Renshaw, having scored just 238 runs at 19.8 across his 12 innings – including two half-centuries and a 32 in his last three digs.

The reverse in fortunes felt like it wasn’t far away for the gritty 21-year-old, and even if it was on a flat MCG wicket, it will do wonders for his confidence.

He looked somewhere near his best throughout the knock and while it wasn’t completely faultless, it was the best Renshaw has batted in over 12 months.

It will shape as a welcome return to form for the Bulls, who will be relying on their young opener to not only help them into the finals, but win the competition if they are to get there.

Matt Renshaw. (AAP Image/David Moir)

On a personal level, Renshaw has started to apply pressure on incumbent Australian opener Cameron Bancroft.

While the Western Australian was deemed to have done enough during the summer to retain his place at the top of the order for the tour of South Africa, he is already under the pump from Joe Burns, who was in good form throughout the summer.

Even though Renshaw won’t play in the tour of South Africa, there is some Test cricket before next summer kicks off, with a trip to Zimbabwe and a home series against Bangladesh on the agenda. A strong finish to the Shield season and winning performances in those matches could leave the Queenslander in the driver’s seat to play against India next summer, given Bancroft’s struggles during the Ashes.

The MCG needs a completely new square for 2018-19
It’s becoming more and more evident the MCG wicket block needs to be torn up and started again before next summer.

It came to a head during the Ashes, when Australia and England played out a terribly boring draw on a wicket which didn’t deteriorate for five days.

In the fixture between Queensland and Victoria, just 18 wickets were taken in 339 overs before the game was called just before tea on the final day. In the three games played on the MCG during 2017 in this Shield season, there were three other equally lifeless draws.

It makes it five first-class fixtures in a row (including the Test) on the ground which have ended in a stalemate.

Not only does it make one of the most famous grounds in world sport look like a dud, but it’s hurt Victoria, who sit on the bottom of the table with five draws, a win and a loss from their seven games.

Unless Cricket Australia invest heavily in the ground, it risks being suspended for 12 months over the next few years should more poor pitches spring up for Test cricket.

Imaging that – Boxing Day needing to be moved from the MCG.

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New South Wales lose top two spot as Redbacks strengthen chances
The Blues were looking good before the BBL break, but they have lost back-to-back games since the competition returned.

While they have been missing a lot of their first-choice squad to the Australian setup, that’s not anything out of the ordinary for NSW.

Round 6 saw a four-wicket loss to Western Australia at the WACA, with Daniel Hughes, Ed Cowan and Peter Nevill – the three men supposed to be leading their batting list – struggling.

It was the same scenario in Sydney against the Redbacks as they were skittled for 256 and 213, only Hughes (93) and Kurtis Patterson (89) stopping them being rolled for an embarrassingly low total in the first innings.

With just three rounds to go, the Blues are going to struggle to get back into the top two without their international players.

The Redbacks, on the other hand, have kept their season alive. Sitting in fourth, they are only three points behind the second-placed Tigers.

With Jake Weatherald, Tom Cooper and Joe Mennie all displaying good form, they could be a force over the final three rounds pushing for a spot in the final, especially with two home games.

Hilton Cartwright’s chance to stand up blows by as Warriors get thumped
The Warriors had a good chance to push their claims for a top two spot this round taking on Tasmania, but ultimately were thumped.

While Tasmania had the best of the pitch after winning the toss and electing to bat, the Warriors, with a weakened side, should have put up a much stronger effort.

After the hosts piled up 9-431 declared in their first innings, WA were knocked over for 67 before being forced to follow on. The second innings was better, but they still didn’t come close to making Tasmania bat again and fringe Australian player Hilton Cartwright will be disappointed with his returns.

He had a chance to lead his team without the Marsh brothers among others, but instead took 0-56 off 11 overs and made scores of 11 and 19.

One of the options at the start of the summer for the Australian number six role, Cartwright seems a long way away right now.

Hilton Cartwright (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

Matthew Wade sends selectors a reminder
Another discarded national team player, wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, sent a timely reminder of his talent, making 139 for the Tigers.

It comes after he picked up three wickets with the ball in a shock spell against Queensland during the last round.

While Wade has admitted his international career is virtually over, there could be a chance for him to remodel himself as a pure batsman with those sorts of scores.

Even if he was also keeping for the Tigers against the Warriors, Wade has scored runs before, and while not consistent enough, could put himself in the mix for the number six role in the Australian team with consistent performances.

For that to happen though, he will need a drop off in form of the current team and to have not only a strong finish to this Shield season, but a fantastic start to the next one.