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.

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!