Marshalling the Troops, Shaun Bats On

As ordinary as South Australia had been in their opening match against the CAXI, and as solid as Queensland had been in their opening match against the same opposition, I guess it was only fitting that the final match of the three way opening at Allan Border Field should provide the Redbacks with a complete turnaround and defeat the home team, leaving all three teams with a 1-1 opening record.

Queensland strangely decided to field on winning the toss, but this soon appeared to be the correct decision, as once again the South Australian top order was unable to get going. At 5/99 after 25 overs there appeared little prospect of recovery. Step forward Tom Cooper, who once again played the kind of innings that makes selectors stand up and take notice. As he has on previous occasions when his team has been in dire straits, Cooper stood tall, kept out the good balls and fired the bad balls like tracer bullets through the field. With support from the consistent Valente (24) and Mennie (14), Cooper managed to retrieve the situation for the Redbacks, and engineered a way to get to a total of 8/240 off their fifty overs. At the end Cooper was undefeated on 115 off 107 deliveries. It was another fantastic innings from a player who has shown so much potential over the years, and yet mixes in innings lie this with periods of such mediocrity that it is hard to believe it is the same player. Perhaps this is the season he stands tall for South Australia again.

240 didn’t look likely to be enough to stem the Queensland batting, but Dan Worrell and Joe Mennie had other ideas, slicing through the top order to leave the Bulls in a similar predicament to their opponents, finding themselves at 5/87 after 20 overs. Khawaja, Renshaw and Burns were all snapped up by national-keeper-in-waiting Alex Carey going too hard at the ball. I wonder what lessons will be learned by batsmen and other teams bowlers alike from those dismissals. Keeper batsman Jimmy Peirson fought hard, scoring 60 off 69 deliveries in trying to inspire a fightback, but the damage had been done and once he was dismissed, the end came swiftly… just swiftly enough to avoid the rain that arrived a couple of minutes after the final wicket had been taken. Joe Mennie was fabulous, finishing with 5/36 from 9.5 overs that should serve as a reminder that he was shafted well and truly by the national selectors last season, and that he is still around and making an impression. He might look to have a few bowlers in front of him at the moment, but with injuries still taking a piece of many of those bowlers, you never know when your next opportunity might come. He was well supported by Worrell with 2/34 and the other Redbacks bowlers.

Scorecard: JLT Cup Match 4: Queensland vs South Australia

Does the question have to be asked? Would Shaun Marsh have been the answer for the ODI team in India? Apart from the fact that his record in the IPL and India in general is excellent, his match winning century against NSW and his match-winning-helping 88 here against Victoria once again leaves all cricket watchers wondering how he can be so prolific at the secondary level of cricket without being able to consistently produce that same form at an international level. And once again, just when people have started write off his chances of ever wearing an Australian cap again, Shaun Marsh fires back with a glut of runs.

Western Australia probably have the best home field advantage in Australian cricket, and they exploited it again against an experienced Victorian bowling attack and a young Victorian batting line up. Once again the winner of the toss decided to field, and it backfired spectacularly for Cameron White as the Warriors piled on 4/283 from their fifty overs. Marsh’s 88 from 112 balls anchored the innings, while the supporting cast all got involved with Cam Bancroft (59), Jonathan Wells (34 not out) and skipper Mitch Marsh (47 not out) all contributing. The bowlers from Victoria mostly took a hammering, despite the wealth of experience between them. Scott Boland went for 1/58 from his ten, Fawad Ahmed 0/64 and Dan Christian 0/63. Peter Siddle was solid for 2/48, while Chris Tremain again provided sterling evidence of his credentials for higher honours with his 1/34 from nine overs fast and pacey.

No doubt the target was gettable but it was going to need a solid contribution all the way down, as well as a good start. Cam White being dismissed for 5 didn’t help their chances, and every time it looked as though a partnership was forming a wicket would fall. Marcus Harris with 47 and young Seb Gotch with 61 were Victoria’s best, but the best only got the team to 245 all out with three overs remaining. No doubt the Victorian team will be more comfortable on the slower wickets on the east coast, while the Warriors are the only unbeaten team at this early stage of the competition.

Scorecard: JLT Cup Match 5: Western Australia vs Victoria