Sheffield Shield 1999

Round 8 Reports

NEW SOUTH WALES "Blues"
1st XI - Manager: Brad Hicks	2nd XI - Manager: Wally Cowan
THE UNSTOPPABLUES!!! NSW secured their position on top of the table with a devestating display against Tasmania on their home turf. Firstly scoring over 800 runs (Mark Waugh 272, Mark Taylor 188), then the bowlers set about destroying the opposition, led by McGrath with 11/125. This display was very pleasing to the return of manager Brad Hicks whose mystery disappearance has still not been explained. Only a catastophe could stop the "Blues" taking the minor premiership and securing a home final.	Another match against Tasmania and another loss. Once again our batting was the problem, with no batsman reaching 40. We will now have to wait until the final to have one more crack at Tasmania. That means that we will have to use the last two matches to improve our form for the all important final. This week we play Western Australia but we will have to do it without former Test bowler Simon Cook. Cook has had a great season taking 44 wickets at 18.52 and his bowling has helped us to win games even when our batsmen have struggled. This week the batsmen will have to do it themselves.

QUEENSLAND "Bulls"
1st XI - Manager: Tony Noyeaux	2nd XI - Manager: Bradley Ashcroft
Queensland's happy sailing into the Sheffield Shield Final was horribly upset this week, with the injury to Love. Coach Noyeaux was faced with a major dilemma without the services of another quality batsmen - deciding to gamble with the allrounder Muller. Hopefully, the existing Queensland batting strength will be able to carry the load at least for one week. The Bulls are hoping to cement a place in the Shield final this week - it will depend on the ongoing fielding woes of Queensland.	I am very happy with the performance of my team this week against a very good SA side. Batting first we got 358 off 121 overs, with 129 for Carseldine, 90 for Dixon and a 53 for Cassell. It's good to have a few batsmen in form. When we bowled it marked a great return for all-rounder Scott (Presto) Prestwidge who took 4 for 62, offie Anderson also chipped in with 3 for 90. Still we only had a ten run first innings lead, so it had me a bit worried. 362 in the second innings was a faster innings and it may well have been our 2nd innings scoring rate that set it up for us, giving us plenty of time to bowl them out. 127 for Carseldine was great for him, he is one of the best batsmen I have seen in a while. He at times looked like Allan Border, the man who the ground we play on is named after. Then we bowled them out nicely, with Jacko taking 5 wickets. Next week we take on the Vics, and we have a bit of confidence going into the match as they are the only side not to beat us. We drew with them earlier this season and this time we plan to go one better and win.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA "Redbacks"
1st XI - Manager: Trevor Hansford	2nd XI - Manager: Tyrone Marshall
The South Australian manager has made himself unavailable for comment this week. Through Lehmann he has made the comment that he is very upset at their performance, and that all they can do now is to look to next season and show some pride in the remaining games.

TASMANIA "Tigers"
1st XI - Manager: John Clifford	2nd XI - Manager: Dave Hickey
	Tasmania kept their undefeated record intact with a hard-fought victory over NSW in the top of the table clash. NSW batted first but sensational bowling from Damian Wright (8/60) saw the Blues dismissed for just 131. The Tasmanians got away to a poor start, being 2/3 and then 6/39 before a last wicket stand of 47 between Shannon Tubb and Josh Marquet lifted the score to 123. The NSW 2nd innings was another low scoring effort as the Blues were rolled for 147. Needing just 156 for victory, Tasmania finally put some good partnerships together. At 2/149 victory was in sight but they then lost two more wickets before reaching the target to win by 6 wickets. Tasmanian manager Dave Hickey was happy to claim the win over NSW but he was quick to point out that the final was when it would really count. "We would love to win our next two games to stay undefeated but that will all mean nothing if we lose the final, so that's what we have to focus on, starting right now," he said. Tasmania have matches against SA and WA in the next two weeks and Hickey will be keen to use these matches to get everything right for the final.

VICTORIA "Bushrangers"
1st XI - Manager: Westie	2nd XI - Manager: Christo McDonald
We had a great win over Western Australia and one man stood out, that being Elliott scoring 284 for the match and it's good to see Mott coming back to form with two scores in the 40's. We are bowling well but we will be looking for more from our bowlers in the next game against Queensland. Queensland have a very good bowling line up but we think that we have the batsman to cope and our bowlers are much better than what the averages say. We need this win to have a chance in the final, so we will be going in hard.	For the first time this season, two of my players are injured. I am bringing in Jason Bakker and David Shepard, with Peter Harper taking over the gloves. This is a very important game, because the third place on the ladder is still available for any of the bottom four teams. For the second week in a row, we had a bad second innings - letting firstly NSW then Tasmania off the hook. We will not let Queensland off the hook like we did the first time we met, only needing 1 wicket to win, with time running out. If my players don't perform against Queensland, I will think about leaving them, since I have had an offer to manage another team, beginning in May '99.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA "Warriors"
1st XI - Manager: David McMullen	2nd XI - Manager: Peter Nocerini
Dave McMullen, the coach of Western Australia, has reportedly walked out on the club after a heated team meeting following the after-match press conference. Two very weak performances have outraged McMullen, with the bowlers being the focal point of his publicly-vented frustration. McMullen did not hold back his anger when asked about his bowlers' performances. "The bowling has been terrible, the line and length has just been... shocking. My mother could do a better job!" McMullen also mentioned that arrangements have been made to "teach the team a lesson." Rumour has it that McMullen has asked football commentator Bruce McAvaney to take the players for the next week. If this is true then a "special" week will be planned. Ex-player Mike Veletta has also been seen around the club, working with youngsters such as Katich, helping improve their batting. "Mike has been really helpful. Simon (Katich) has really enjoyed the feedback he has received from Mike. He has also worked with Damo (Martyn) who really played well against the Vics." Martyn, the state captain, has been excluded from the McAvaney camp this week after his performance with the bat. "Damo has been given the week off, but the others are not so lucky!" The president of the WACA has expressed his concern over the frustration shown by Dave McMullen, but expects him to be back at the club by Saturday. Western Australia will be facing New South Wales, who are desperate to seal a Shield Final berth. Before storming out of the team meeting, officials say that McMullen stated, "Some major changes, both board and player, are going to be made if I am going to stay on as coach." A stronger and more physical WA side is expected this weekend. After all, spending a week with Bruce McAvaney would send anyone berserk!	MULDER'S BIG FINISH WRAPS UP WARRIOR WIN A 6/50 effort by Bret Mulder helped Western Australia earn its second win of the Second XI League season, a 177 run win over Victoria. Afterwards, new Manager Peter Nocerini was telling everyone within earshot how smart he was. Most people had the decency to smile to themselves and walk away, shaking their heads slightly. Nocerini had inserted Mulder into the Warriors' lineup for the match with Victoria. The Bushrangers faced an unlikely 398 run target anyway, but Mulder rocked them to sleep, bowling 6/50 and getting the final five wickets in a span of 13 balls. The match didn't start auspiciously for the Warriors, who lost their first two batsmen, Mark Lavender and Rob Baker, on first-over ducks. At 0 for 2 (2/0 if you're in Australia), Steven Glew walked up to Chris Rogers (who had not faced a ball yet) and whispered something. Glew faced the hat-trick ball from Gilbert and rapped it for two runs. He did the same with the next ball. It was the start of a 186 run partnership that got WA into the match, with Glew scoring 100 and Rogers 109. Afterwards, writers asked Glew what inspirational message he had whispered to Rogers. "I said, 'We better get some runs, or that new bloke from the States is going to fly in some minor league baseballers to take our jobs.'" A 54 run 10th wicket partnership put Victoria ahead by 50 runs on first innings. Nobody went out cheaply in WA's second turn through the order, but the big highlight was a 114 run stand by Jamie Stewart (60) and Matt Garnaut (63) on the ninth wicket (after they had taken four wickets a piece in the first innings). That pushed Victoria's target to an unlikely 398, and the Bushrangers went quietly after Foster (72) was bowled by Shane Jurgensen. "I think everybody came through for us this week," said Nocerini, "and that puts us one point out of fourth place and 10 points out of third. We've got second place New South Wales and first place Tasmania ahead of us in the last two matches of the season. This week, we're visiting the Blues, and we haven't won a match away from home all season. "Nobody thinks we'll be able to do much with them. That means it's going to be a shock when we do. If we can do what we did out here today - if we can keep our heads and not get demoralised when things don't go our way - we'll be fine."