The last round of the Sheffield Shield, and finally, we have our two finalists! Keep reading to find out who made it to the finals, who narrowly missed out, and who epically flopped.
Tasmania vs South Australia: Blundstone Arena, Hobart
3 sentence summary: South Australia produced an upset win over Tasmania off the back of some exceptional batting from Nathan McSweeney. Eight wickets for Nathan McAndrew and seven from Brendan Doggett proved the difference for South Australia as Tasmania’s batting lineup collapsed faster than a club cricket side in the heat. Tasmania’s hopes of hosting the Shield final were dashed in just 83 overs.
Who pushed Test claims? Nathan McSweeney stood out from the pack and in the last half of the season, he has made runs at crucial times for his team. Should the Australian top order continue to have more holes than a strainer, well, McSweeney may just sneak in. He will want to start next year’s Shield season very well with India in town.
Who did not push Test claims? Caleb Jewell played for Australia A at the start of the season, but he has since had quite a patchy Shield season. His 227 last round displayed his class, but far too often has he gotten out early in games without troubling the scorers very much. The selectors will be looking to see him take a leap forward next season in his early game application.
Victoria vs Western Australia: Junction Oval, St Kilda
3 sentence summary: Victoria’s chance at reaching their second final in two years was stymied by a very good Western Australian performance. Set just 269 to win, the Vics were rolled for 130 handing Western Australia not just a final but the right to host the final in the west. Western Australia’s performance was befitting of the top team of the season who simply found a way to win.
Who pushed Test claims? Lost amid Western Australia’s dominance was Scott Boland’s eight wickets. Boland had a cracker of a match and should be well and truly in the mix for a spot against India.
Scott Boland. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Who did not push Test claims? Marcus Harris has had a very quiet season by his standards. This was a chance for him to stand up and get his side over the line. Harris has the early part of next year to prove that he is back to his run-scoring best. He will want to make the most of that.
Queensland vs New South Wales: Allan Border Field, Brisbane
3 sentence summary: This was as much a match that Queensland lost as much as it was a New South Wales win. With little for either team to play for other than pride, New South Wales redeemed some of the pride it lost during last year’s State of Origin with an impressive win. Queensland will reflect on the disappointment of this season and will hope for a better season next year.
Who pushed Test claims? Ollie Davies put down another marker that he could be a real star of the future. His 131 set up the match for New South Wales nicely.
Who did not push Test claims? Bryce Street, once considered along with Henry Hunt, as one of the up-and-coming young openers, has barely made a run all season. Filling in for Matt Renshaw who was away on Test duty, he has returned incredibly low scores. Let’s hope that Street rediscovers his best very soon.
Best XI of the round:
How this is selected: This looks at the best players in each position and fits them in where appropriate. Players can be moved down a rung in the batting order from where they normally bat, but they cannot move up. For example, Matthew Renshaw could open or bat at 3, but since he did not make runs in the middle order, he would not be eligible to bat in the middle order. The objective of this is to track the consistency across the Shield season. At least one player from each side should be selected unless one team utterly dominated that round.
Cameron Bancroft
Sam Konstas
Nathan McSweeney
Campbell Kellaway
Ollie Davies
Beau Webster
Jimmy Peirson
Xavier Bartlett
Nathan McAndrew
Chris Tremain
Scott Boland
Thanks for reading all these segments. It’s been a pleasure bringing them to you! Only one more wrap, end of season awards, to come!
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Fair call! Good pickup on my use of language. :laughing: I suppose I stand corrected then. Hahaha. I'm also looking forward to the game.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
If one of the "Big 3" broke down against India, I'd have few hesitations about putting Temain into the side. You need someone with a lot of experience in there against the likes of Kohli, Rohit & Jaiswal and co. So, why not? Is he the future? No, but I'd much rather have a fully fit, in-form, 32 year old Chris Tremain in my squad than a bloke like Lance Morris with HEAPS of potential, or Jhye Richardson with HEAPS of potential, who break faster than fine china and have played little to no Shield cricket over the past couple of years. They're not match fit nor in form. They are the future, that's for sure, but against India, I'm going for Tremain, Paris, Boland or Neser, blokes with experience and a little age, provided that they're in form.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
No mistake on my part. You are running a very weird angle.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Can’t even admit when You made a mistake . Clearly I meant that he personally, went from 0 to 227 .As he was dropped on 0 & made 227. Which wasn’t difficult to understand. Never did I text 0/227 , which is also what you thought. Text whatever you like. This time You Were Wrong! :thumbup:
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
That's not how scoring works.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
He was dropped on zero & made 227. That’s going from 0-227. You got that wrong mate!
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
It was a response to Gibbo’s article (Did you read it?). He suggested Caleb Jewell had got out cheaply a lot. The comment pointed to the fact that was an issue even in his biggest innings. See, cricket conversation. By the way, there was no 0/227. You’ve got that wrong too.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
So the 0-227 is significant , is actually agreeing with you . That it could have been a bigger win. I took note . :thumbup:
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Yet you bought into its discussion.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Yes . My mistake again. My sincere apologies, that I didn’t really care about the shield final either.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Who knows what you are talking about? Jewell plays for Tasmania, not Victoria.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Most unusual. WA have been stickyfingered all season. I think the current holder of the record for catches in a season , Cam Bancroft, dropped one. Shows how good Peter Handscomb is as a fielder. 27 catches in a season was the best for a long time and he apart from Bancroft is the only other fielder to have five catches in an innings .
Panthers
Roar Rookie
0-227 is pretty significant. With whatever partnerships came around it.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Exactly what we want from a finger spinner. I'd consider Agar (or Connolly) for Stobo in the final. Extra day, tie them down, bouncy pitch for tall spinners, stronger batting (Agar over Stobo).
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Which catch? I know WA missed 5.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Wife's away from Thursday to Monday this weekend. I hope the TV doesn't overheat.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
I'd call 138 runs a monster trouncing. Rolled for just over 100.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Those who eat that pudding are finding the proof.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
He wouldn't know any of them.. but he learned all his cricket here.
Doctor Rotcod
Roar Rookie
Just a little hairspltting minute, Gibbo... SA " trounced" Tasmania by 134 runs, so yeah, Vics were trounced. Looking forward to the game immensely. Weird the overlap with the oval ball season,though.