It has been announced that Chris Tremain has moved back to New South Wales.
Born in Dubbo, Tremain cited family reasons to come back to his home state after joining Victoria in the 2014-15 season.
For the Victorians, Tremain picked up 209 wickets in 54 first-class matches at an average of 23.79 with six five wicket-hauls and one ten-wicket haul.
Alongside his eye for wickets, Tremain in a handy lower-order batsman and returns home as a more mature and experienced cricketer.
In a NSW side filled with international cricketers, Tremain’s inclusion makes the Blues firm Sheffield Shield favourites.
Chris Tremain is moving from the Vics to NSW. (Photo: Paul Kane/Getty Images)
Here’s the NSW Blues squad below.
The Cricket Australia contracted players are Pat Cummins, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood, Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa.
The NSW contracted players are Moises Henriques, Peter Nevill, Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Ryan Hackney, Liam Hatcher, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nathan McAndrew, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha, Daniel Solway and Chris Tremain.
And on NSW rookie contracts are Arjun Nair, Oliver Davies, Baxter Holt, Lachlan Hearne, Tanveer Sangha and Ryan Hadley.
When at full strength, NSW will struggle to find places for the likes of Tremain, Sean Abbott and possibly Daniel Solway alongside many more.
The batting includes domestic stalwarts in Daniel Hughes, Moises Henriques and Kurtis Patterson while Peter Nevill is a fine gloveman.
Apart from fielding the Australian Test attack, the NSW bowling has experienced campaigners in Trent Copeland, Chris Tremain and Sean Abbott while Harry Conway is starting to catch the eyes of Australian selectors.
While the depth in NSW’s batting and fast-bowling stocks are top notch, I am a bit worried about the spinner’s role. With Steve O’Keefe retiring from first-class cricket, NSW don’t have a genuine first-class spinner to partner or take over from Nathan Lyon.
Adam Zampa has come back to NSW, but his first-class stats are average. I hope that Zampa will enjoy bowling on more spin-friendly wickets across NSW to improve his skills as a red-ball bowler.
Under the guidance of Phil Jacques, the Blues made the 2018-19 Sheffield Sheild final before losing to Victoria and emerged 2019-20 champions after COVID-19 led to a premature end to the season.
NSW has emerged as a harder and tougher team to beat in the past two seasons after a few seasons of mediocrity in the long form of the game. With a side that would want to repeat their 2019-20 success and go on to win the tournament rather than top the table, NSW will turn up hungrier than ever this Shield season.
Alongside many NSW fans (myself included), I cannot wait to see Tremain and company burst out and rip apart opposition batting attacks.
Assuming that the Australian Test stars will miss the majority of the Sheild to international duties, here’s my predicted NSW XI for this edition of the Sheffield Shield: Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Daniel Solway, Kurtis Patterson, Moises Henriques, Peter Nevill (captain and wicketkeeper), Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland, Chris Tremain, Adam Zampa, Harry Conway.
jameswm
Roar Guru
So NSW at full strength look like this: 1. Warner 2.D Hughes 3. K Patterson 4. Smith 5. Henriques 6. Solway/Sangha/Edwards 7. Nevill 8. Cummins 9. Starc 10. Hazlewood 11. Lyon Notably missing out - Tremain, Zampa, Abbott, Copeland Team when big 6 are on test duty: 1. Solway 2.D Hughes 3. K Patterson 4. Henriques 5. Sangha/Larkin 6. Edwards/Larkin 7. Nevill 8. Tremain 9. Copeland 10. Abbott 11. Zampa Look at the backup attack. Pretty bloody good.
Paul
Roar Guru
I’m not a huge Maxwell fan at Test level, Patrick. That said, you’re right, he could be value as a second spinner in Bangladesh. I look at the spinners who are successful in that part of the world and none are prodigious turners of the ball, but have good variation and the relatively small deviation they get is plenty to beat the batsman. Maxwell fits that category is obviously a pretty useful player of spin too. I’m equally unconvinced we have a good enough replacement outside of someone like Maxwell, if anything happens to Lyons. As you say though, both he & Handscomb need to have a couple of very good early Shield matches to get them noticed by selectors.
Patrick
Roar Pro
Two other names that I'd throw in would be Glenn Maxwell and Peter Handscomb. Assuming the Bangladesh tour is rescheduled at some point after next summer, it gives both of these guys the chance to press their claim. To me, both are suited to playing in Asian conditions, but don't warrant selection on the basis of the last Shield season. I think Maxwell is certainly capable at FC level, but has struggled to play enough Shield games, given his white ball commitments. I'd love to see him press his case again. With O'Keefe retired, Swepson inexperienced, Agar struggling, and Holland performing poorly in his last Test assignment, I think there's a case for playing all three of Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins in Asia. Lyon could be assisted by a combination of Labushcagne and Maxwell. I think Handscomb would also perform well if given an opportunity in Bangladesh. Despite the many flaws in his game, he's a fantastic player of spin. We saw this in his stellar ODI form leading into the World Cup. A few seasons ago, he was one of the leading batsman in domestic cricket- a strong shield season could book his ticket.
JGK
Roar Guru
Would help if he stayed fit as well.
Paul
Roar Guru
yeah, forgot about him, but you're right, runs would certainly put pressure for a recall.
JGK
Roar Guru
Maddinson too.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'd suggest NSW were already firm favourites before Tremain's return. Even if he'd remained in Victoria, Abbott, Copeland, etc would have been a pretty useful group, when the Test attack was not available. I'm more interested in who will challenge NSW. The Vics look decidedly weaker, especially their attack,while Tassie might have passed them for second favourites. I just hope a few guys have 1000 run seasons. Puckovski,Patterson,Renshaw & Bancroft all need to reset and make a lot of runs this Shield season, to pressure Burns & Wade in particular