2024/25 - Aussie domestic cricket

[lemmon]

Have to say the Vics threw away the One Day Cup yesterday - they were cruising until Harris and Handscomb coughed up their wickets to McSweeney.

It was a shame for Harris - he looked in unreal touch, that's probably the cleanest I've seen him hit a ball through the off-side.

[GVGjr]

Vic vs vs SA was full on. Vic's get the 10th wicket with just a 2 run lead.
Boland 4 wickets, O'Neil with 5.

[lemmon]

Vic vs vs SA was full on. Vic's get the 10th wicket with just a 2 run lead.
Boland 4 wickets, O'Neil with 5.

Jordan Buckingham is such a fun, underrated bowler for South Australia. He's just constantly searching for wickets and willing to go for some runs to get them. It's great to watch

[Bornadog]

Looks like AFL won the battle

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[lemmon]

Ollie Peake hit an excellent half-century on debut for Victoria. He's only 18 but is a fantastic prospect. He played at the last Under 19 World Cup as a 16-year-old and didn't look out of place.

He's a really slight left-hander but plays beautifully through the off-side

He's one that it feels like the Australian selectors will fast-track in the way that they have with Konstas and Connolly - Victora just needs to keep picking him and playing him, he's the state's best batting prospect since Brad Hodge.

Some really good batting talent in the state with Kellaway, Dixon and Peake.

[GVGjr]

What did you think of Blake McDonald?
Looks to have a very good technique.

[lemmon]

What did you think of Blake McDonald?
Looks to have a very good technique.

He's a good problem solver - seems to have nice plans for particular bowlers and moves himself around the crease. The extra pace of Couch worried him and pushed him back, which is a concern for a guy that's batting 3.

Deserves his shot with his runs at grade level and in the Vic second XI, but at 27, he needs a first class score if he's going to have a future at First Class level.

[lemmon]

The regular Shield season is done and dusted - some pretty interesting names that led the individual performance charts.

The leading run-scorers were:
1. Jake Weatherald - 906 runs @ 50 with 3 100s and 3 50s
2. Hilton Cartwright - 861 runs @ 57 with 2 100s and 3 50s
3. Kurtis Patterson - 743 runs @ 57 with 1 100 and 5 50s
4. Campbell Kellaway - 738 runs @ 41 with 2 100s and 4 50s
5. Pete Handscomb - 693 runs @ 38 with 1 100 and 5 50s

Weatherald had a great season for Tasmania and is one I'd like to see play some Australia A cricket. He's only 30 and his first class record isn't far off the likes of Harris or Bancroft - averaging a tick over 36. He also has that attacking left-hander game that is pretty reminiscent of David Warner, so it wouldn't surprise to see him talked about.

Great season for Kellaway too. Victoria have poured a lot into his development and it's finally starting to show. He's a tall, elegant left-hander who's carving out a place as a patient opening bat. He's a really lovely player down the ground, but I think we started to see some improvements in his defensive technique this year - one to watch for higher honours.

A few other guys worth mentioning -

-Sam Konstas - 652 runs @ 41 with 1 100s and 3 50s

Good season for a young player, let's see what happens with the WTC final.

Some of the other guys for the opening spot had really poor years -

-Marcus Harris - 561 runs @ 33 with 1 100 and 3 50s
-Matt Renshaw - 496 runs @ 29 with 2 100s and 1 50
-Cam Bancroft - 344 runs @ 26 with 1 100 and 1 50

Bancroft's season was ruined by that terrible injury and I think Renshaw needs to get out of Queensland. No real excuse for Harris.

One other guy to mention who I think has as much talent as anyone in the country -
-Jason Sangha - 573 runs @ 72 with 2 100s and 3 50s

It's amazing that Sangha is only 25 and it just felt like he was picked way too early for NSW. He's gone to South Australia, has benefited from the flatter surface but has played some great knocks at numbers 3 or 4. If he has another big season, it wouldn't surprise me to see him around the Australian set-up. The guy is an incredible talent - he plays shots that I don't think anyone else in the country could play.

And the wicket-takers:
1. Fergus O'Neill - 38 wickets @ 21 with 2 fifers
2. Corey Rocchiccioli - 38 wickets @ 28 with 2 fifers
3. Nathan McAndrew - 35 wickets @ 19 with 2 fifers
4. Jackson Bird - 34 wickets @ 17 with 2 fifers
5. Gabe Bell - 31 wickets @ 24 with 0 fifers

Those first two guys should absolutely be in the Test side conversation.

I'd take Rocchiccioli to the Windies ahead of Todd Murphy now - you have to reward that level of performance. I also think he's just a very different off-spinner that works in Australia. He's very Harbhajan Singh with his aggressive bounce and I like that in Australia.

I'm a Fergus O'Neill convert. I thought he might be a bit too Chad Sayers in that he's a little short and a little slow, but I think he has a lot of weapons. He's aggressive, has a good short one and always seems to be at the batter. If we're talking about the next generation of quicks - we have a 24-year old who's taking his first class wickets at under 21. You can't ignore that.

Some other guys worth mentioning -

-Xavier Bartlett - 18 wickets @ 24 with 1 fifer - I love this guy for UK conditions and it's great to see him around selection

-Jack Edwards - 29 wickets @ 24 and 435 runs @ 33 - he's kind of the reverse Cameron Green in that he was a batting all-rounder who has become a bowling all-rounder. He was the Mitch Marsh of his under 19 group - batted four and made big World Cup runs. Now's he captaining NSW at only 24 years old, has slid to number seven and is bowling first change, but worth keeping an eye on as he's steadily growing as a player

Pretty strong season of Shield cricket with some younger guys really growing as players. Interested to see who stands up in the final - selectors have traditionally valued it, so look out for McSweeney, Sangha, Renshaw and Marnus.

[Axe Man]

Kellaway scored a fair portion of his runs in the last 2 games, really found some form late in the season. I've heard he's an excellent fielder too and he took an absolutely ridiculous outfield catch yesterday.

Harris and Bancroft are done as test cricketers I believe. Harris has been incredibly consistent at Shield level over the previous few seasons but lost form this year and is probably a large part of why Victoria narrowly missed the final - the runs the side could normally rely on from him dried up and they struggled to post big enough totals.

[lemmon]

I think if Harris had nudged his average towards 40, they would have picked him for the WTC Final as a 'UK specialist' and then gone back to Konstas for the Windies tour.

[Axe Man]

SA have rolled Queensland for 95 (after being 5/22 at one stage) in the Shield Final. Doggett with 6/31. Khawaja 2 and Labuschagne 0.

[whythelongface]

SA have rolled Queensland for 95 (after being 5/22 at one stage) in the Shield Final. Doggett with 6/31. Khawaja 2 and Labuschagne 0.

Great effort by the Redbacks. Had them 5-22 at one stage. In response they are currently 1-26. Hopefully can pile on a good lead.

thought Khawaja wasn’t playing. Interesting.

[Axe Man]

I've never seen him bowl but sounds like Callum Vidler is some prospect. 4/33 so far in just his third first class match at 19 years of age. Apparently was bowling +150kms in the previous game.

[Axe Man]

Queensland have managed to drag themselves to a 1 run lead at 3/177. Big test today to see if they can set a defendable target. Marnus had some luck, caught off a very tight no ball early on to end up with 61.

Jake Lehmann is in some rare form, 3 centuries in his last 3 matches.

[lemmon]

I've never seen him bowl but sounds like Callum Vidler is some prospect. 4/33 so far in just his third first class match at 19 years of age. Apparently was bowling +150kms in the previous game.

He's a jet. I thought he was easily our best player at the last Under 19 World Cup and have been wanting to see more of him at this level for a while.

Think Dale Steyn / Jhye Richardson - he's a little bit shorter but he's aggressive, has great wheels and bowls big hooping outswingers.

The big issue will be managing his body with that action - he throws himself into everything so hopefully his back can hold up.

That Under 19 side is looking like our best crop in a long time.

[Axe Man]

He's a jet. I thought he was easily our best player at the last Under 19 World Cup and have been wanting to see more of him at this level for a while.

Think Dale Steyn / Jhye Richardson - he's a little bit shorter but he's aggressive, has great wheels and bowls big hooping outswingers.

The big issue will be managing his body with that action - he throws himself into everything so hopefully his back can hold up.

That Under 19 side is looking like our best crop in a long time.

It's great to see so many from that squad already with shield/domestic one day/big bash exposure (plus tests for Konstas).