Sheffield Shield Preview | Lyon and Boland continue Ashes preparation as New South Wales visit Victoria
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The Sheffield Shield is set to resume on Wednesday as New South Wales take on Victoria, at the Junction Oval in Melbourne, in their second first-class game of the season. A host of Test incumbents and hopefuls are available for selection, with the Ashes squad announcement awaiting on the horizon.
Just over a month remains to the Ashes opener in Perth on November 21, where 11 Aussie men will attempt to thwart the English trying to breach the fortress Down Under for the first time in 15 years. However, this is perhaps the msot vulnerable the hosts have been in the referenced period with a transition firmly underway. Up for grabs are the opening spots alongside Usman Khawaja and practically all back-up slots, with pace bowling taking precedence given skipper Pat Cummins is confirmed to miss the start of the series.
In Scott Boland, the Canaries already have a ready replacement, a case the pacer will be keen to strengthen against the Blues. However, he will run-up against fellow hopeful Sam Konstas, who is the incumbent opener albeit he managed a mere 50 runs across six innings in the Caribbean in his latest endeavour. His start to the season was equally hushed, although on a lethal WACA top, and the fact that he has succumbed four times to Boland in his first-class career does not bode well either. Yet, what better chance could there be to impress the selectors with the Victoria bowling attack also boasting last year's Shield Player of the Year Fergus O' Neill and capped spinner Todd Murphy, who seems set to be Nathan Lyon's understudy for the Ashes once they are done with battle in the upcoming game.
Victoria clinched a thriller against South Australia in their Shield season opener, chasing down 231 on a Day 4 Adelaide pitch on the back of an unbeaten 84-run stand for the seventh wicket between Oliver Peake (70*) and l Fergus O'Neill. Having lost the final in both seasons prior to Western Australia, Victoria finished a disappointing fourth in 2023/24 before improving to third with four wins in 10 games the previous season as they missed out on the summit clash by the barest of margins.
After three back-to-back final appearances between 2019 and 2021, New South Wales have finished fourth twice including last season and reached rock bottom in 2023 when they finished bottom of the pile. However, a large part of it is down to the regular absence of Test stars, a point well-proven in their season opener where they trumped Western Australia by 74 runs under Nathan Lyon's stewardship who is set to reprise captaincy to Jack Edwards on Wednesday.
VIC: W W L L L
NSW: W L D W L
As the two most successful teams by far in Sheffield Shield history, Victoria and New South Wales are unsurprisingly separated by just three results across a shared history spanning over a century, with the former holding the edge. Notably, the advantage is a product of recent years, with Victoria winning 13 games of first-class cricket against the Blues over the last decade as opposed to just two positive results for their rivals while their record in Melbourne during the same time period reads seven to one. However, it is New South Wales that emerged victorious the last time these two teams met in the Shield, with the Blues bowling out Victoria for 154 in the fourth innings to register a 76-run win in Sydney.
VIC 84-81 NSW
The Junction Oval usually produces a good batting surface with plenty of runs in store for teams if the willow-wielders manage to see out the new ball without heavy losses. That being said, the venue has also produced unusually green tops in recent times with hopes of forcing a result, a tactic that backfired in Victoria's final home game last year when South Australia chased down 300 in te fourth innings with four wickets to spare enroute to the title. For the same reason, no captain has chosen to bat first at the venue after winning the toss since February 2023, since when seven Shield games have been played at the venue.
A sunny spring morning awaits the players in Melbourne on Wednesday. Temperatures are expected to hover in the late teens and early 20s degrees celsius, with no rain or cloud cover forecast while a soft breeze should be consistent presence.
Victoria are set to welcome back captain Will Sutherland, Harry Dixon, and Todd Murphy from Australia A duties, the latter taking the place of Doug Warren despite the latter winning man of the match in the season opener.
Ashes hopeful Sam Konstas and premier spinner Nathan Lyon are confirmed to play the upcoming Shield round, while Sean Abbott is also set to return to the mix in a final push for Test selection for the summer. Skipper Jack Edwards is back from Australia A duty and will duly take over the captaincy from Lyon.
Victoria (probable): Harry Dixon, Campbell Kellaway, Marcus Harris, Peter Handscomb (c), Oliver Peake, Sam Harper (wk), Will Sutherland (c), Fergus O'Neill, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland, David Moody
New South Wales (probable): Blake Nikitaras, Sam Konstas, Kurtis Patterson, Matthew Gilkes (wk), Oliver Davies, Jack Edwards, Will Salzmann, Sean Abbott, Charlie Stobo, Nathan Lyon, Ryan Hadley
The Sheffield Shield will be digitally streamed by Fancode on their app and website.
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