Why this year’s Sheffield Shield was such a cracker

The 2017-18 Sheffield Shield final was, due to events in South Africa, ignored even more than usual, but that shouldn’t obscure the fact that the comp this year was an absolute cracker.

First up, a disclosure: I’m a Queensland supporter and the Bulls won the Shield, so I’m biased.

But with as much objectivity as I can bring (i.e. not much) I’d argue there were several things that made this season stand out.

1. The opening matches had genuine stakes for the national team selection.
It seems so long ago now, but a hell of a lot of spots in the Australian team were up for grabs at the beginning of the summer – notably the wicketkeeping and number six positions – leading to a lot of interest in the first three rounds of the Shield.

There was, it was assumed, a three-way battle for the keeping spot – Peter Nevill versus Matthew Wade versus Alex Carey. Then, like a great end-of-year TV show cliffhanger, a surprise (yet natural) twist: Tim Paine swooped in to grab the spot.

Darren Lehmann’s and Steve Smith’s apparent determination not to pick Glenn Maxwell at number six saw competing claims from Hilton Cartwright, Shaun Marsh, Jake Lehmann and new NSW favourite Daniel Hughes… before Shaun Marsh got the gig.

Then another twist: Matt Renshaw struggled badly in the opening games and fell victim to Cam Bancroft’s blistering form.

Those first three rounds saw good, competitive cricket too with all the Test players available. There’s been some talk this part of the season might be given over entirely to one-dayers, but I’d love to keep October a Sheffield Shield-only zone.

2. A bunch of players made comebacks
Most notable was Matt Renshaw, who started the season poorly, lost his Test spot, recovered his form, and ended it back in the national team.

A lot of people are saying now that Rensahw should never have been dropped from the Test team. I agree it was rough but the fact is he was out of form and had to figure how to get out of his sophomore slump. He did that in spades.

Other Test discards found their way back to national honours via good Shield performances, including Joe Burns, Jon Holland, Mitch Marsh and Glenn Maxwell. Pete Handscomb scored a century after being dropped from the test team and made it to South Africa. Jackson Bird had a fine season and was picked for South Africa.

There was also Hilton Cartwright, who had a pretty poor season but recovered well.

Matt Wade had a terrible start to the summer but came back brilliantly, with a bunch of runs and three wickets to boot. (An aside: I think Wade’s chances of getting back in the national side as a keeper are low, with Alex Carey and Jimmy Peirson going so well but… you know something? If he worked on his bowling I could see him back in the side as a batsman and feel he should give that pathway some thought.)

(AAP Image/Daniel Munoz)

The big exception – Nic Maddinson, who I really feel needs to start fresh somewhere in a new state.

3. New talent emerged
Nick Winter and Chris Tremain had great seasons. So too did Marnus Labuschagne and Tom Rogers. Jhye Richardson’s form saw him get on the plane to South Africa. Jake Doran and Sam Heazlett recovered from unreasonable and unfair premature Greg Chappell hype to finally establish themselves at first class level (though both still have a long way to go).

Also there was Will Pucocski who made a breakthrough 188 against Queensland but then lost his season due to concussion. I hope he makes a comeback.

4. There were some amazing individual performances
Mitchell Starc took a hat-trick in each innings. Joe Burns, Alex Doolan, Bancroft and Maxwell all scored double centuries, Renshaw scored three centuries in as many matches, Travis Head made 80 out of a total innings of 141 then 145 in a chase of 331 that fell 16 runs short.

Nick Winter took a five-for on debut and Stephen O’Keefe took an eight-for. Luke Feldman came to the wicket when Queensland were 9-176 against WA and helped take the score to 263 (making 52) then took three wickets in a game Queensland won easily.

Labuschagne and Hemphrey’s partnership against NSW turned the game around. They were all performances which deserved to be better known.

5. Tasmania are back
Tasmania had a string of rotten seasons but bounced back this year. They have some exciting youngsters and a good brand of cricket under the nicest captain in the game and it was really pleasing to see them in the final instead of we-consider-the-national-team-our-birthright NSW, how-many-Shields-does-one-team-need Victoria or home-of-the-slightly-creepy-cult-of-Justin-Langer Western Australia.

6. The veterans did well
Despite the Logan’s Run attitude of some selectors, it’s veterans who help keep the Shield so competitive and it was pleasing to see several of them shine – notably Callum Ferguson, Cameron White, and Trent Copeland.

The most depressing thing about the season was the dumping of Ed Cowan from NSW, contributing to Cowan’s retirement from first-class cricket. In the wake of what’s happened in South Africa, I hope Cricket NSW asks Cowan to change his mind because he still has a hell of a lot to contribute at this level.

All up a great season of competitive cricket, and a pleasing antidote to what’s going on with our national team at the moment