Agar at red-ball crossroads after missing Shield selection

A little more than a year since he made his return to the Baggy Green, Ashton Agar's red-ball future is under a cloud after being overlooked for Western Australia's Marsh Sheffield Shield team.

The reigning first-class champions have stuck with rising off-spinner Corey Rocchiccioli for their first Shield match following the KFC BBL break against New South Wales at the WACA Ground beginning Saturday.

Agar played for WA in Thursday's Marsh One-Day Cup defeat to the Blues, but Rocchiccioli's selection over him in the first instance both spinners have been available for the Shield team over the past 12 months will not surprise those who have followed the latter’s fortunes.

The 26-year-old has taken 42 Shield wickets over the past season-and-a-half, while his record at the WACA Ground is remarkable for a finger spinner: 27 first-class wickets at 25.85 for his career.

But Agar's omission nonetheless highlights how swiftly his red-ball prospects have diminished.

Western Australia v NSW, WACA Ground, February 3-6

 

Western Australia squad: Sam Whiteman (c), Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Sam Fanning, Cameron Gannon, Jayden Goodwin, Liam Haskett, Matthew Kelly, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Charlie Stobo, Teague Wyllie

 

NSW squad: Moises Henriques (c), Jackson Bird, Ollie Davies, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Ryan Hackney, Liam Hatcher, Daniel Hughes, Blake Macdonald, Blake Nikitaras, Jack Nisbet, Chris Tremain

He returned to the Test side in January last year, taking 0-58 from 22 overs in the SCG Test against South Africa, and then looked set to play a key role on the ensuing tour to India as Nathan Lyon's sidekick.

But his involvement in Australia's failed bid to regain the Border Gavaskar Trophy ended strangely when he was dropped from the squad after two Tests.

Todd Murphy pipped him for selection in the first, before Matthew Kuhnemann was flown over to play the second in a three-spinner line-up, leaving selectors to cut Agar from the touring group altogether.

He has not played any red-ball cricket since.

With Rocchiccioli, injured left-arm wrist-spinner Hamish McKenzie and allrounder Cooper Connolly all highly rated in the west, Agar now faces a long road back to the Baggy Green and possibly first-class cricket too.

The left-armer has said he wants to keep playing all three formats, with his availability over recent years having been curtailed by injury, most recently a calf concern that kept him out of ODI World Cup consideration.

An international recall appears more likely in limited-overs cricket, though he missed selection for the Dettol ODI and T20I series against West Indies.

He will be in the mix if Australia need a second spinner for their T20 World Cup campaign in the Caribbean later this year.

"We've seen Ash at the international level in the white-ball space for a long period of time, we're confident in what he can do," selection chief George Bailey said last month.

"I think given the time off that he's had a bit of continuity in his cricket and some game time can be really beneficial for him. I do think come the West Indies I think there'll be a second spinner there without a doubt."

NSW meanwhile have left out Jason Sangha for their trip to Perth, regaining Jack Edwards, Daniel Hughes, Liam Hatcher and Blake MacDonald in the Moises Henriques-captained squad.

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points