While the rain erased the chance of a result in Melbourne, the outright victory in a fourth innings chase by South Australia in Perth was a refreshing sight for cricket observers – until one remembers that the modern day W.A.C.A. wicket has seen plenty of fourth innings victories as the surface has changed over the years. The memory of South Africa chasing down over 400 against Australia, and of the run-fest between New Zealand and Australia two years ago, shows that little remains of what was once the fastest and truest surface in world cricket. More is the pity, given that it will have its second send-off to Test cricket in a few short weeks before the game is moved to the new overbearing stadium that lacks the history and suburban values that the W.A.C.A has held so dearly.
South Australia’s victory was a celebration of their well balanced team, proving once again why they have been Sheffield Shield runners-up for the past two seasons. Going in with four fast bowlers worked for them with the ball, and the efforts of Jake Weatherald, who played out of his skin for a career-defining double of 152 and 143 – his first innings saving South Australia and keeping them in the game, his second innings winning them the game – are the vindication of the faith shown in him. Given the media coverage that was given to Jake Lehmann’s double last match, and also Cameron Bancroft’s recent form, it seems ludicrous that more has not been made of his amazing achievement. Of course, the ridiculous leaking of what purports to be the Test team while the finale of this match was taking place completely overshadowed his amazing achievement, and is once again a nonsense of the sporting media in our current times. No one was suddenly stating his case for the Test side, indeed it was barely mentioned in any breath. And that is fair enough, because it would have been drawing a long bow - exactly like the Jake Lehmann possibility. But instead of covering this fairly, the media had bigger fish to fry all of a sudden.
More or less forgotten in all of this was the wonderful innings by Callum Ferguson in helping to set up this victory. He would have been disappointed with his 33 in the first innings given his chances to push for his own Test recall, but his 88 in the second innings took his team to within 70 of victory, and once again proved that his form is now good enough to give him a much better chance of a second shot in the baggy green than 12 months ago. It appears as though hit has come to nothing at this stage, but more big scores in the next two Shield games will put him in a position to be the next person on call should the Test team falter in the early Test matches. It is disappointing that he hasn’t received any coverage in this regard either, because I believe he would be a perfect fit at number six. Certainly better than the person who appears to have been given the job.
With the further injury concerns to Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff, Western Australia’s bowling line up was unable to dislodge the Redbacks on the final day, something that suggests some difficult days ahead for them. Also given that Hilton Cartwright was only given 6 overs on the day it didn’t bode well for him in pushing his case as an all-rounder if his skipper didn’t think he was up to the challenge. It will be interesting to see when Mitch Marsh is right to bowl again, and whether his newly found form with the bat will continue once his body is expected to bowl once again as well.
The rain ruined any hope of a result in the Victoria vs Tasmania match, and it also stopped Glenn Maxwell from putting up a final case for his Test spot with a big score. He finished the truncated final day’s play at 45 not out, and given his two sixties in the previous match you would have thought he had done enough as a current member of the Test top six to retain his position. From all reports that isn’t the case, which appears to be extremely confusing and unprofessional if it is the case.
The drawn match leaves both of these teams at the foot of the Sheffield Shield table, and with little real prospect of moving up unless something incredible happens. The next two rounds will take place without the Test squad players, leaving New South Wales and Western Australia more vulnerable, but both teams are likely to have reasonable backups to take their places. What will be most interesting in the next two rounds will be the performances of the players who were either in the Test squad beforehand or on the fringe of selection this week. The way that they go about their work for themselves and their teams will now become the focus, especially when it comes to keeping in touch for the Sheffield Shield title. In most cases, whereas these three initial matches have all been able Test selection, now the fight for the Shield becomes the reality for those left behind, and that battle still looks as though it is going to be a good one.
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