Just managed to scrape over the line against SA yesterday, nearly mucked it up by losing 5 - 20 odd when they were cruising. Some good performances by Australian hopefuls in Hunt, Phillipe and Inglis.
WA are now certain to make the One day final with only 2 matches to go, it will almost certainly be played at the WACA
A couple of tough away Shield games to finish off the first half of the season. One at the SCG against NSW which will be a challenge given that WAs record at the ground is pretty absymal. Then a rematch against Queensland in Brisbane where they will have to confront Neser and Steketee again. If we can win both these games WA could have just about wrapped up a shield final place prior to christmas.
Heady times for WA cricket, probably the best depth wise since the glory days of the 70s and 80s
WA and NSW must be playing on a minefield for day 2
After being bowled out for 233 om Day 1 WA must have thought they were in a strong position to bowl out NSW for 93 in just 37 overs. Bat well for a few sessions and this game is in the bank right -
Well, we are right now 6 for 45 of 24 overs. All we have in our favour is the fact we are 185 in front you would not want to chase that based on whats happened today
Significant victory for WA at the SCG. The last time they won there was 2006 would you believe. Both teams were missing players but have a look at this list of WA guys who didn’t play for various reasons
Shaun Marsh
Mitch Marsh
Agar
Hardie
Green
Inglis
Jhye Richardson
Paris
Stoinis
Morris
Gannon
A number of these guys should be available for the next game against Queensland. Will be interesting to see how the selectors juggle the team
Gold stars for this game go to:
Bancroft and Whiteman who produced an opening partnership of 92 on the first day which turned out to be decisive
Stobo - great debut including some handy runs in the 2nd innings
D’arcy Short - guided WA from a dicey position in the 2nd innings to an unassailable lead
Roccocholi - 8 wickets, must have been close to Man of the match
Moody - took his opportunity with both hands.
Everyone in the team contributed though and it will be hard to drop anyone
WA cricket is in great shape when you have so much competition for places in the team.
Yes a good win by the WA boys on the low turning SCG Mike.
You could even add Behrendorff to the list missing even though he plays predominately white ball cricket these days.
Always love beating NSW & VIC whether at home or even better away.
I guess Chris Green would be a certainty now for the Test side if Lyon were to miss for whatever reason!!!
apart from the one match WA had against Victoria where scores of 466 & 616 were made - I can’t remember when the ball has dominated the start to a season to such a big extent as this one
Seems every state has had big green tops that have made life ordinary for batsmen so far
Mikey, don’t forget Fanning with 61 being the only player to pass 50. Great innings considering the conditions and the fact he is a kid
Southerner wasn’t the issue of pitches a serious concern for the poms last year in their review? Playing 4-day cricket too early in the summer produced poor pitches where batters didn’t know what to do. I’m not sure what Daniel Hughes was thinking getting out reverse sweeping just before lunch which left them 6 for 50odd
[quote=“premiership hangover post=223790 userid=1206”]Mikey, don’t forget Fanning with 61 being the only player to pass 50. Great innings considering the conditions and the fact he is a kid
Southerner wasn’t the issue of pitches a serious concern for the poms last year in their review? Playing 4-day cricket too early in the summer produced poor pitches where batters didn’t know what to do. I’m not sure what Daniel Hughes was thinking getting out reverse sweeping just before lunch which left them 6 for 50odd
[/quote]
Good pick up PH, he was the glue that kept the middle order together and enabled them to get to 230 which was a winning total. With some of the Australian players available for the next shield game he will probably drop out along with Teague Wylie, who has been brilliant as well. Reminds me of those dominant NSW teams in the 50s and 60s when the likes of Ritchie Benaud, Davidson, Simpson were available for the odd Shield game, well performed players would be dropped even if they had made centuries or taken wickets in previous games. Such is the strength of WA cricket at the moment
Looks like a golden era for WA cricket…some fantastic talent on show…time for Voges to move Short on for Connolly though…some how get Goodwin in as well…pity Green is contemplating playing T20, would love to see him at 4 / 5 for WA for a few shield games…
Not a good weekend in the cricket world what with the flogging in India and the Warriors. getting a touch up in Adelaide. They are probably far enough ahead on the Shield ladder for this not to be too drastic for their finals chances but it has been a sobering reality check for them.
I’m wondering about the value of including a 40 year old Shaun Marsh at the expense of young Fanning and Wylie who performed really well during the first half of the season. Also surely Josh Phillipe is worth a spot in the top 6, he has been left out at the expense of Stoinis who to be fair scored a 50 today. Inglis got an absolute shocker of an LBW decision today so he was unlucky but poor batting from the rest on what was a pretty good pitch given SA piled up 450 on it.
Our bowling is considerably weaker with Paris, Morris and Agar missing from the last time they played.
Having said that about Marsh he might peel off a double ton in the 2nd innings and lead WA to a famous victory! It just seems a backward step to include a 40 year old at the expense of a young guy performing well.
Jeez I can’t remember the last time SA, fixed anyone up in the Shield.
Great to see the Stoin in his first Shield match in 3 years.Score a half century against tumbling wickets at the other end.
Think we can bat our way out of this match with a draw.
Absolutely staggering we picked S.Marsh to play again at 40 and with more injury and fitness concerns then you could poke a stick at.
We were unbeaten going in to the clash with SA playing youngsters like Wyllie, Fanning, Phillipe etc and we drop them for someone who has been a great player for WA but at 40 should have hung up the bat (or been forced to) after last summers Shield win.
gtr: the last time SA smashed us was the disaster at the end of GM Wood’s time, around 2000. We we were bowled out for 50 in one innings. Do the young players have poor form in grade cricket?
Still very much a winnable game for WA, 320 odd on the last day with 8 wickets in hand…will need Bancroft to go big, with 2 others to go with him. No double ton for S Marsh…totally agree with others, not too sure why he is playing…time for SOS to move aside
Surprised Stoinis got the nod to play TBH. Yeah he scored 50 in WA’s first innings, but how much red ball cricket has he played to get into that WA top 6? If he was picked on his white ball feats, then surely Turner should of got first crack…more so since Turner has been scoring runs for Freo this year in grade cricket as well as his white ball efforts.
329 needed on the last day with 8 wickets in hand, a long shot and SA are the hot favourites… however… Cam Bancroft is still in and capable of batting the whole day, they also have Cartwright not out and Inglis, Hardie and Stoinis to come so if they could dig in for a few long partnerships anything could happen. Also Kelly and Stobo are more than useful if it got down to them having to support a recognised batsman. The pitch still seems to be OK so you never know, could be an exciting last day. It would be a great game to win after trailing by so much on the first innings
Just looking at Shaun Marsh’s last handful of Sheffield Shield games for WA he has had scores of-
1, 16, 12, 13, 58, 17, 18.
That is only 135 runs at an average of 19.2 which is not ideal for your number 3 batsman let alone at age 40.
As I posted before he has been a great servant for WA for 2 decades now but probably should have retired on a winning note after last years Sheffield Shield triumph as not only is his first class form ordinary but his body continues to struggle with injuries as well.
And yes Freeze I agree on the Stoinis selection as well which was bizarre seeing he is only really considered a white ball player for hire these days!
Crazy to pick Marsh and Stoines - both should not be in shield planning for WA going forward.
Well done to the SA team, they certainly outplayed the Warriors and have now put themselves in contention for a berth in the final.
The result was inevitable once Bancroft was removed early today as he was the only batsman capable of scoring a double ton and supporting the other more attacking players. They lost the game on day 2 when they were reduced to 6 for not many in the first innings. Time for some soul searching by WA but no need to panic. Looking at the table they will probably qualify for the final with one more win out of their last 3 games. They have back to back games v Tasmania followed by Victoria at the WACA..
The battle is on for the 2nd spot in the final with all but NSW still in the picture.
It will be interesting to see whether Jyhe Richardson plays any further part in the season as he has been out for over a month now. Hopefully Paris should be back for the next game, He will strengthen the attack which is also missing Morris at the moment.
The good news is that the guys that are over in India will be back in time for the shield final if we make it so potentially Morris, Green and Agar will be available for that game.
Mikeh: as you said, kept in it by Inglis and Cartwright, which will do. We have definitely fielded stronger batting line-ups over the years. Tas., needs the points something which could see them declare around 250, aimming to have one or two out before stumps tomorrow.
Inglis’s innings was a beauty given the situation of the game , might just have saved the season too with Victoria less than 3 points away now.
It’s turned the game with WA virtually 1-223 with 2 days to play
They haven’t added the bonus points for this game yet, so if WA end up winning this game they will still be close to 2 wins in front of the Vics with 2 to play. May be a repeat of last season with WA v Victoria at the WACA. Both teams will have their Aussie test players back by the time of the final. There is a ODI series in India which clashes with the match.