The second last round of the Sheffield Shield, and competition for the first two spots is heating up! Keep reading to find out who has put themselves in the best position to host the final.

Tasmania vs Victoria: Blundstone Arena, Hobart

3 sentence summary: A first-innings collapse from Victoria and a fine all-round performance from Beau Webster helped Tasmania put one foot into the Sheffield Shield decider. Will Sutherland’s five wickets coupled with Nic Maddinson’s third consecutive century kept Victoria in the hunt, but in the end, Tasmania’s total proved too much.

Who pushed Test claims? Beau Webster has a record that only Garry Sobers, Tom Moody (twice), Simon O’Donnell and Norm O’Neill have achieved in Shield cricket. He’s scored 840 runs and taken 20 wickets. He should be the next man up for Australian selection should they need another all-rounder

Who did not push Test claims? Poor Will! Will Pucovski picked up his 12th concussion during the match ducking straight into a Riley Meredith short ball. A lot of people have high hopes for his Test future, but with all that we currently know about concussions, Will’s commentary box future looks brighter than his playing future. Something for him to consider moving forward.

Western Australia vs Queensland: Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth

3 sentence summary: Queensland’s first innings batting collapse proved costly as they lost by 154 runs. Western Australia’s win propelled them ahead of Victoria into second spot with one round to play. Josh Inglis’ second innings ton and Corey Rocchiccioli’s eight wickets for the match helped WA to a comfortable victory.

Who pushed Test slaims? With continued pressure around Alex Carey in the Test side, Inglis’ ton helped him push his red ball claim as well as being the current white ball incumbent. If the selectors drink the Kool-Aid and kick Carey out, Inglis would seem to have inside running to be his replacement.

Who did not push Test claims? Has Cameron Bancroft given up? His run-scoring has seemingly dried up since the Big Bash League finished, at least compared to his recent form. Hopefully, Bancroft finds some form in the last round and finds it quickly!

New South Wales vs South Australia: Cricket Central, Sydney

3 sentence summary: A drawn match played at Cricket Central in Sydney. With limited time left to get the ninth wicket and Ben Manenti playing tough to remove, time was called and the match was a draw. The wicket at Cricket Central looks like a good batting wicket, and maybe making it a little more competitive might help produce a better result.

Who pushed Test claims? Nathan McSweeney made composed 50s in both innings for South Australia setting down another marker for his push for the Test side. Still young, it would be great to see this consistency continue.

Who did not push Test claims? Jake Lehmann. although a long shot for Test selection, continues to be hit-and-miss with his results. He’ll want to improve his consistency should he have any shot at making the Test team.

Best XI across the first 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.

Nic Maddinson
Sam Whiteman
Jayden Goodwin
Nathan McSweeney
Thomas Kelly
Beau Webster
Josh Inglis
Will Sutherland
Jack Wildermuth
Chris Green
Gabe Bell

Stay tuned for Round 10!