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Joined April 2021
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Last week, you read about the Matt XI, a compilation of the best cricketers ever to represent the name Matt. And to be fair,…
There has never been an Australian Prime Minister, King of England or US President with the first name of Matt, but there have been some great cricketers.
The conclusion of the Sheffield Shield season, here's the announcement of the players and teams who have succeeded - and failed - this year.
The last round of the Sheffield Shield, and finally, we have our two finalists! Keep reading to find out who made it to the…
The second last round of the Sheffield Shield, and competition for the first two spots is heating up! Keep reading to find out who…
The last round of the Sheffield Shield before the Test squad flies to New Zealand, and considering that 19 days had elapsed since the…
The Sheffield Shield returns and with it all the drama and intrigue around who is voted off Test selection island next. Stay tuned for…
If I were picking an Australian Test side today, I would not have Cameron Green in my side. The reason is quite simple; Cam…
Junior sports across Australia, from rugby league to cricket suffer from a dearth of umpires. Umpires, referees, whatever they are called, exist to adjudicate…
Sometimes, selections for the Australian cricket team leave me wondering why the Sheffield Shield competition exists. Any one of the 66 players in the…
The final round before the Big Bash League gets underway and the Test summer... let's see who impressed in an intriguing Round 6 of…
Round 5 had two tricky wickets, a few epic collapses and provided further proof that modern batters struggle to grind out long innings. Here’s…
Round 4 separated the likely from the aspirational. It produced a huge upset and exposed some frailties in other sides. Victoria vs Tasmania CitiPower…
Round 3 was full of excitement and included two comprehensive wins and one victory that went down to the final over of the final…
Week two of the Sheffield Shield is in the books and as we look to make sense of the first six rounds of the…
This is an attempt to make sense of the first six rounds of the Sheffield Shield competition and, with the Test team about to…
How many people watched the Australia A versus New Zealand A series? There did not seem to be very many spectators at the ground…
Major in history in any one of the fine Australian universities and one of the first things the professors will tell you is that…
Eight seconds. That’s the attention span of an average human adult in 2023. That’s the same amount of time it takes to tie a…
The North Queensland Cowboys have proved an enigma in the 2023 NRL season. Discovering the root cause of their issues would take a detective…
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.
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?
Man, my Cows looked AWFUL! They were obviously distracted by something (not sure what), but then Val took it to a whole new level. I’d be happy if they relieved him of the kicking duties for a time to focus on his game. Drinky is a solid backup kicker, Chad Townsend is also a pretty good kicker (but doesn’t have the range).
But honestly, their biggest issue is the soft tries they continue to concede, especially on Nanai’s edge. He’s gotta fix that up, and once he does, they’ll be a really good side.
NRL Round 2 Talking Points: Robberies in the north and south, high shots are back and some good losers
138 runs is not exactly a “trouncing”, but I take your point. It was a solid win. I’d call it more of a team effort because no one from WA really took control and dominated the match as they should. Bancroft’s 58 in the second innings anchored them while nobody made more than 43 in the first innings (a real collection of starts though). Gannon picked up 6 wickets for the match, Haskett got 6, but otherwise, it was pretty evenly shared around.
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?
WA does that better than any other state. NSW picks on “potential”, QLD relies on blokes who’re past it or people who have come through their system. Tassie is beginning to see the benefits of this “depth” thing; the Vics will see it as well if they continue on their merry way. SA recruits from other states to build their “depth”.
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?
Starc is the same age, isn’t he? But nobody will move aside for him. They’ll keep selecting the same XI over and over and over again, even when they get pummelled by India.
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?
Thanks Gordo. Appreciate the support as always.
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?
Chris Green, just quietly, is putting up really impressive FC numbers with decent batting as well!
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?
I will see how I go.
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?
Since the end of the BBL, Bancroft has 297 runs (including 100* on a flat deck) at 36 and only once more has he passed 50. That’s in 8 innings. When you average 39 for your career, that’s not too bad, but compared to his output over the past 2 seasons, then yes, the runs have seemingly dried up.
Round 9 Sheffield Shield wrap - Is anyone putting pressure on Marnus for a Test spot, and is 'poor Will' done?
Rocchiccioli has had a great season. He might even make the tournament team. Let’s see…
Round 9 Sheffield Shield wrap - Is anyone putting pressure on Marnus for a Test spot, and is 'poor Will' done?
True, but he happens to bowl first change for Tassie as well. It makes no sense filling a side with all-rounders (and all of them are genuine all rounders) if half of them won’t bowl.
Round 9 Sheffield Shield wrap - Is anyone putting pressure on Marnus for a Test spot, and is 'poor Will' done?
But if you drop Head for Webster, that doesn’t solve the problem. If you drop Marsh for Webster, it gives better balance.
Round 9 Sheffield Shield wrap - Is anyone putting pressure on Marnus for a Test spot, and is 'poor Will' done?
True, but that then gives you 3 pace bowling all rounders in the side. Is that really what’s needed?
Round 9 Sheffield Shield wrap - Is anyone putting pressure on Marnus for a Test spot, and is 'poor Will' done?
Well spotted. Yes, he probably should’ve been in the squad over Will Sutherland. He’s definitely been mentioned a few times before in this series, though.
Round 9 Sheffield Shield wrap - Is anyone putting pressure on Marnus for a Test spot, and is 'poor Will' done?
Yes, indeed he is. Maybe, just maybe, he can give Cam Green and/or Mitch Marsh a run for their money.
Although, with the selectors’ reluctance to drop ANYBODY from this side, maybe not…
Round 9 Sheffield Shield wrap - Is anyone putting pressure on Marnus for a Test spot, and is 'poor Will' done?
Green has made 2 Shield appearances and yes, has averaged 102.4 in those 2 appearances, but 2 Shield appearances does not a season make. You’ll notice that Joel Paris has got the nod along with Alex Carey, neither of whom are eastern staters for this round. It was unhelpful for Green and Bancroft this round that they essentially played out a dead rubber when they had a real shot at winning it. I struggled to pick any of my beloved Queenslanders to include in the side, not because they didn’t warrant inclusion, but most others’ performances outweighed theirs. Let me run you through my thought process for each.
– Jewell: 227 is awfully hard to leave out even if it was in a dead rubber.
– Maddinson: His ton at more than a run a ball helped the Vics set up that match.
– Pucovski: Nice to see him back in form and as the form no. 3 in the comp, he needed that spot.
– Handscomb: Again, when comparing his ton with Green’s, his was more influential in the overall outcome of the match hence why he gets the nod.
– Carey: In a similar vein, Carey’s two 50+ scores kept SA in the match. He deserved his spot.
– Webster: He’s having a stellar year. Hard to keep him out, really.
– Edwards: Find me another no. 7 (or no. 6) who had a better match or has had a more consistent run than he has with both bat and ball? I’d have thought Neser, but he’s a little down this season.
– Paris: Because why not include one of the most consistent bowlers in the Shield who took wickets on a flat track?
– Lyon: Best performed spinner of the round.
– Steketee: Needed a QLDer in there, and he took the most wickets of the lot. Also the most by a no. 10 this round.
– Boland: Hard to go past a booke who just put NSW to the sword in their last match. 8 wickets in the match is a decent effort.
Oh, and by the way, go back and read my other article about why Cam Green should NOT be in the Test side and should play in the Shield.
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
Don, Cameron Bancroft has made the first 3 XIs in this series. He’s in there already. For me, if Bancroft is the standout player in the round, then he’s in there, but making 100 on a flat track in a drawn match doesn’t get you many credits in my book. If he and Cam Green had gone on to make 100s and had chased down the 450 required, then sure, they’d both be in serious consideration.
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
Who’s this?
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
Ah Don. Grumpy when the West Aussies miss out, as always. 😂 I considered putting him in, but Jack Edwards has been in quite good form for awhile now. He seems to be hitting his groove nicely, plus Green is a Test player already, and while that doesn’t disqualify him from the team of the round, it does mean that if there are other up-and-comers who’ve had great rounds, I’d rather feature them than someone who’s out of form in the Test arena.
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
Hahaha good comment about the Indian FC average! Haha.
My intention at the end of the Shield is to go back through all my lineups and make a combined “Best XI” with exactly that process.
– Who’s featured more than once?
– Who were the Shield standouts (i.e. topped the stat charts) who may not have been considered?
– Who had a consistent season but didn’t get recognised for the consistency either in my wrapups or with international selection?
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
It’s a similar situation in the AFL/NRL/Union. It seems like health is, and about time too, becoming more important than actually playing the game. I’d hate to see bouncers outlawed in cricket just as I’d hate to see tackling outlawed in any of our 3 footy codes or headers outlawed in football.
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
I think we’re seeing a significant regression towards the mean in Shield cricket. Batsmen with average averages (30-35) who are considered “good” potential Test players playing like they’re averaging 30-35. Very few Shield players average 35+ and even fewer average 40+. They might do so for a season or two, but their overall body of work doesn’t tell the story.
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
😂 😂 😂
Thanks for making my week, Billy!
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
My personal preference is that, for the sake of his health, he doesn’t play top-level cricket again, but that’s a pretty harsh call for an armchair critic to make.
Round 8 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's putting their hand up for an Aussie Test spot?
Fair call! Good pickup on my use of language. 😂 I suppose I stand corrected then. Hahaha.
I’m also looking forward to the game.
Round 10 Sheffield Shield wrap – Who's hitting their stride ahead of the big final?