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Harris ton propels Vics in Shield opener

New recruit notches rapid century after Glenn Maxwell named 12th man for Victoria in Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania

A century from Marcus Harris put Victoria in the box seat in their Sheffield Shield clash with Tasmania but Test hopeful Glenn Maxwell was left to carry the drinks.

Harris hit 115 off 144 balls and Peter Handscomb added 78 from 113 to carry Victoria to 4-351 at stumps on the opening day of their pink ball day-night clash at the MCG.

Harris hits first ton of Shield season

With pacemen Jackson Bird and Peter Siddle using the game as an audition for a spot in next week's first Test against South Africa in Perth, Maxwell's chances of a Test call-up are more remote than ever after Victoria named him 12th man.

"It's just a matter of balance," coach Andrew McDonald said on Tuesday.

"There will be some unlucky players. We've got nearly the full list available and we've selected the team we think can beat Tasmania."

Quick Single: Maxwell's first-class snub from Victoria

Maxwell sought a move from Victoria to NSW before the start of the domestic season but was prevented from doing so under Cricket Australia rules.

The allrounder last week said he hoped to make a return to Test cricket, which he described as "by far" his best format.

His omission overshadowed a quality knock from Harris in his first appearance for Victoria since defecting from Western Australia.

Image Id: 1B3CD865D3314FE9BCB8385EDB67F07B Image Caption: Glenn Maxwell on the sidelines at the MCG during Victoria's Shield clash against Tasmania // Getty

With Tasmania wining the toss and electing to bowl, Harris hit two sixes and 14 fours before being caught by Ben Dunk at first slip off the bowling of offspinner Beau Webster in the 49th over.

Handscomb piled on 11 boundaries before top-edging a badly misjudged short delivery from Andrew Fekete to Dunk at backward point, while Travis Dean put on 26 before being bowled by legspinner Cameron Boyce.

Captain Matthew Wade (56 not out) and Cameron White (50 not out) kept the scoreboard ticking over for the Bushrangers in the final session.

Skipper Wade leads the way for Vics

Bird was the pick of the bowlers for Tasmania, finishing with 1-53 off 22 typically efficient overs.

The 195cm seamer's breakthrough came just before the dinner break, with Aaron Finch caught behind off a sharp delivery.

Bird took the new ball in the final overs but was unable to add to his tally.

Handscomb notches half-century in Shield opener

Harris said the pink ball had generated plenty of movement in the later sessions and the Bushrangers would look to waste no time closing out their innings.

"It swung around a bit tonight so I think we'll look to put a good score on tomorrow and then obviously that night period's pretty crucial with the ball," he said.

"You'd want to get to 450, 500 tomorrow, so hopefully we put that on the board and then take some wickets with the good bowling attack that we've got."

He said he hadn't spoken to Maxwell but his omission was a sign of the depth within the Victorian team.

"It was different not having Maxy in the team but we have guys who can fulfil all the roles so it was all good," he said.

Victoria XI: Marcus Harris, Travis Dean, Dan Christian, Peter Handscomb, Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade (c), Cameron White, Peter Siddle, Chris Tremain, Jon Holland, Scott Boland, Glenn Maxwell (12th)

Tasmania XI: George Bailey (c), Jackson Bird (vc), Cameron Boyce, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran (wk), Ben Dunk, James Faulkner, Andrew Fekete, Caleb Jewell, Simon Milenko, Beau Webster, Cameron Stevenson (12th)