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The Sheffield Shield season will culminate on Friday with the final between two teams who were widely unfancied at the start of the summer – Queensland and Tasmania.
Here is my wrap of the Shield season.
Player of the season – Chris Tremain (VIC) – 51 wickets at 21, plus 244 runs at 20 from ten matches
South Australia swing bowler Chadd Sayers gets enormous sympathy from cricket fans for the fact he’s never played Test cricket.
Tremain receives comparatively minuscule public support yet his career first-class numbers are just as good as Sayers’ and his record over the past three seasons is even better than Sayers.
While Sayers has 246 wickets at 24 in first-class cricket, Tremain has 170 wickets at 23. Over the past three Shield seasons Tremain’s record is extraordinary – 129 wickets at 20 – and superior to Sayers’ 111 wickets at 24.
Tremain has been consistently effective despite being based on the Shield’s most batting-friendly pitch at the MCG. The 193cm-tall Victorian has all the necessary attributes – bounce, pace, swing and accuracy – to make the leap to Test cricket.
It is Tremain, not Sayers, who should be next in line for a Test berth in my opinion.
In first-class cricket bowlers win you matches and Tremain took a whopping 13 more wickets than any other bowler this Shield season.
Young batsman of the season – Jake Doran (TAS) – 722 runs at 45, including one ton from ten matches
Australia’s batting strategy in Tests the past year or so has been based around crease occupation, marking a return to old-school, grinding Test batting.
That bodes well for 21-year-old Doran, who this Shield season clung to the crease better than any other batsman.
Only two batsmen faced more than 1450 deliveries this season – promising Queenslander Marnus Labuschagne (1530) and Doran, who soaked up a massive 1811 deliveries. That meant it took the opposition 113 deliveries, on average, to dismiss the Tasmanian. Another way to look at it is that he spent about 150 minutes at the crease per dismissal.
What makes this ruthless crease occupation even more impressive is how rare it is for a batsman of his age. It’s no coincidence this is the first season in which Doran, who made his Shield debut at 18, has been relieved of wicketkeeping duties and played solely as a batsman.
Yes, it’s only one season and Doran now needs to back it up next summer. But it was a campaign of rare class and maturity from a 21-year-old batsman.
(AAP Image/Mark Brake)
Biggest flops – Nic Maddinson (307 runs at 24) and Marcus Stoinis (173 runs at 17, plus nine wickets at 40)
Both of these players started this Shield season with strong chances of earning a Test berth in the short term. Maddinson had tasted Test action the previous summer, while Stoinis was called into Australia’s squad during the Tests in India last March when fellow all-rounder Mitch Marsh got injured.
As this past summer started, with Marsh unable to bowl due to injury, Stoinis was probably Australia’s number one choice should they have wanted to pick an all-rounder in Tests. Instead of pushing his Test claims Stoinis had his second awful Shield season on the trot, averaging 17 with the bat after having averaged 18 the previous season.
Maddinson, meanwhile, had trouble just holding his Shield spot this summer due to averaging 24 with the bat across seven matches.
Given the wealth of talent produced by NSW he is by no means guaranteed of being in his State’s starting XI at the beginning of next season.
Breakout stars – Nick Winter (SA) (34 wickets at 19 from five matches) and Tom Rogers (TAS) (35 wickets at 17 from nine matches)
ACT-born 24-year-olds Tom Rogers and Nick Winter started this summer without a single first-class match to their names.
By season’s end they had become dominant figures in the Shield, owning the two best bowling averages among the competition’s top 20 wicket takers.
Winter made one of the all-time great starts to a Shield career by hoarding 34 wickets from just five matches, including four five-wicket hauls. Rogers is yet to take his first five-for but was uber-consistent for Tasmania, and his incredible strike rate of 32 was easily the best among the top 20 wicket takers, with Winter second in line thanks to his strike rate of 39.
Rogers was also impressive with the blade, making 296 runs at 25, including a crucial knock of 80 which vaulted Tasmania into the Shield final, helping them win their final game of the regular season against Victoria.
Team of the tournament
1. Joe Burns (Queensland) – 635 runs at 58, including two tons from six matches
2. Marcus Harris (VIC) – 706 runs at 41, including two tons from 10 matches
3. Glenn Maxwell (VIC) – 707 runs at 50, including one ton from eight matches
4. Jake Doran (TAS) – 722 runs at 45, including one ton from 10 matches
5. Travis Head (SA) – 738 runs at 46, including two tons from eight matches
6. Alex Carey (SA) – 455 runs at 35, including one ton from eight matches
7. Jack Wildermuth (Queensland) – 478 runs at 32, plus 27 wickets at 24 from 10 matches
8. Tom Rogers (TAS) – 35 wickets at 17, plus 296 runs at 25 from nine matches
9. Michael Neser (Queensland) – 37 wickets at 19, plus 236 runs at 20 from nine matches
10. Chris Tremain (VIC) – 51 wickets at 21, plus 244 runs at 20 from 10 matches
11. Mitchell Swepson (Queensland) – 32 wickets at 34 from 10 matches