The final round of the Sheffield Shield begins on Saturday with defending champions South Australia (SA) and last year’s runners-up Queensland vying to join Victoria in the final. It’s in SA’s hands – a victory over Victoria would decide the race – but should they slip up, Queensland could leapfrog them if they beat Tasmania. Here’s the latest team news, and reminder of the points system:
Victoria vs South Australia
Hosts Victoria have recalled Dylan Brasher, who was impressive on debut against Queensland, in place of Blake Macdonald. Scott Boland is also set to feature ahead of the final, having sat out last week’s match against Tasmania. Ollie Peake also returns to the squad after being rested from the Tasmania game following his head knock against Western Australia (WA). Matt Short, who suffered a finger injury in the last round, is unavailable, although he would have missed the action anyway given his upcoming IPL duties.
Victoria squad: Will Sutherland (capt), Scott Boland, Dylan Brasher, Sam Elliott, Sam Harper (wk), Marcus Harris, Peter Handscomb, Campbell Kellaway, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Ollie Peake, Mitch Perry
SA travel to Melbourne without Test opener Travis Head, who is resting before the IPL. Head also won’t be available for the Shield final if SA qualify. Mackenzie Harvey is set to return to the side at the top of the order. Meanwhile, uncapped allrounder Noah McFadyen and seamer Tim Oakley have been added to the squad. McFadyen has led SA premier cricket’s run-scoring this season with three centuries, while Oakley has performed well in Premier and Second XI cricket.
South Australia squad: Nathan McSweeney (capt), Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey (wk), Mackenzie Harvey, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Noah McFadyen, Tim Oakley, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton
Tasmania vs Queensland
Tasmania’s Shield season is over, and they’ll need to pick themselves up from the disappointment of losing the One-Day Cup final. Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird and Riley Meredith are all being rested from the final game of the season due to heavy workloads over recent weeks. Meredith, meanwhile, is also set for a stint in the PSL. Jake Weatherald returns after being a late withdrawal from the game against Victoria due to back spasms. Billy Stanlake is back after missing the Victoria match.
Tasmania squad: Jordan Silk (capt), Jake Doran (wk), Kieran Elliott, Calen Jewell, Matthew Kuhnemann, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Billy Stanlake, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster, Mac Wright
Queensland were given a lifeline when rain denied WA what appeared a certain victory at Allan Border Field. Queensland have also been boosted by some huge inclusions in their pace attack. Xavier Bartlett is available after the T20 World Cup, while Michael Neser, who was rested against WA, also returns. Hayden Kerr is back from an ankle issue.
Promising quick Tom Balkin has been included in the squad, and could make his first-class debut. Jack Clayton and Lachlan Hearne also return after injury issues. Usman Khawaja is absent ahead of the birth of his third child. If Queensland make the final, he is expected to feature, but if they don’t, it means he has played his last first-class game. Jack Wildermuth will also miss after being subbed out of the WA game with a quad strain.
Queensland squad: Marnus Labuschagne (capt), Tom Balkin, Xavier Bartlett, Hugo Burdon, Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Hayden Kerr, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Matt Renshaw, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Hugh Weibgen
New South Wales vs Western Australia
NSW’s Shield hopes were ended by their defeat against SA in the last round, but they have secured silverware with the One-Day Cup. This match will mark Greg Shipperd’s last with the state, and he has named an unchanged squad from the one that lost to SA by nine wickets inside three days last week. Jack Edwards has not been able to recover from his hamstring injury in time to play in the final round of the season.
NSW squad: Kurtis Patterson (capt), Sean Abbott, Joel Davies, Peter Francis, Matthew Gilkes, Ryan Hadley, Liam Hatcher, Sam Konstas, Josh Philippe (wk), Will Salzmann, Tanveer Sangha, Lachlan Shaw, Charlie Stobo
Cameron Green is set to play before heading off to IPL duty in what will be his first first-class match since a disappointing Ashes, and his only red-ball match between now and Australia’s next Test series. Josh Inglis is being rested from the NSW game after playing against Queensland despite the fact he is not headed to the IPL until May.
Joel Curtis returns to keep wicket after being squeezed out by Inglis for the Queensland game. Jhye Richardson is back after being rested against Queensland, while Aaron Hardie has recovered from a hamstring injury that saw him miss the last two matches. Hilton Cartwright, Jayden Goodwin and Matt Kelly have been omitted from the squad.
Western Australia squad: Sam Whiteman (capt), Cameron Bancroft, Cooper Connolly, Brody Couch, Joel Curtis (wk), Albert Esterhuysen, Sam Fanning, Cameron Gannon, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli
Points system
There are six points for a victory, and one for a draw, supplemented by bonus points which work like this: 0.01 of a bonus point for every run over 200 scored during the first 100 overs of their first innings (350 after 100 overs registers 1.5 bonus points), and 0.1 of a bonus point for every wicket a team takes during the first 100 overs of their opponent’s first innings (ten wickets before 100 first-innings registers 1 point).
