WA delve into enviable depth for Adelaide clash

Western Australia's seemingly inexhaustible depth of high-quality pace bowlers will be tested in their upcoming Marsh Sheffield Shield encounter with South Australia having been deprived of the two services of two frontline quicks.

In addition to seeing luckless Australia representative Jhye Richardson succumb to another injury setback – this time a shoulder dislocation suffered during last week's Toyota Second XI game in Adelaide – Test aspirant Lance Morris has been rested as part of Cricket Australia's workload management program.

But stepping up in the duo's absence are experienced replacements Joel Paris (recovered from the hamstring strain he sustained playing for Australia A in August) and Cameron Gannon who returns having missed the previous Shield outing against Tasmania with quadriceps tightness.

Another highly-regarded young quick – uncapped 21-year-old Sam Greer – has been omitted from the WA squad that finished with a draw against Tasmania on a flat WACA pitch last week.

It means the reigning titleholders return to the venue where they slumped to one of their two losses in last summer's campaign with a squad that boasts significant all-round talent, if not quite at full strength.

"I was joking last week that I don't really know where we find them because historically in grade cricket we don't have the big, flashy fast wickets like everyone thinks we do, but we seem to find them from nowhere," spinner Corey Rocchiccioli said of WA's fast-bowling reserves.

"We're really lucky in that regard, if one person such as Lancey (Morris) has a week off – and hopefully he'll join us next week – we've got Cam Gannon to come back into the squad after a bit of a quad injury.

"Charlie Stobo's been doing really well for us, and Joel Paris is back after a couple of pre-season niggles but he was flying up until the Aussie A stuff.

"So we're excited to have that senior head back, and we've found (rookie left-arm quick Liam) Haskett which is elite."

SA have also been boosted by the possible return of their most experienced fast bowler, with Brendan Doggett named in the Redbacks' 13-man squad after missing last week's win over New South Wales with hip soreness.

However, SA were again unable to consider another new-ball option Jordan Buckingham who suffered a mild side strain during the warm-up prior to the game against NSW having claimed a career-best 7-71 in the opening round of the Shield season against Tasmania.

The Redbacks have also added former WA batter Jake Carder to their squad, potentially eyeing a change at the top of order after fellow left-handed opener Kelvin Smith failed to reach 35 in his four first-class innings of the season to date.

In addition, SA will be sweating on the fitness of star recruit Jake Fraser-McGurk who missed last Friday's Marsh One Day Cup match against the Blues – having set a new list-A record for the fastest-ever 50-over century (off 29 balls) – with hamstring soreness.

Seam bowlers dominated last week's Shield fixture, the first at Adelaide Oval of the current summer, sharing all-but one of the 40 wickets to fall in a low-scoring game SA won by 186 runs, with the exception being the single scalp claimed by Redbacks off-spinner Ben Manenti.

But WA boasts the competition's leading wicket-taker after the first two rounds, with Rocchiccioli's 12 at 19.25 placing him ahead of SA's Nathan McAndrew (10 at 6.10) and Queensland leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson (10 at 17) despite the WA off-spinner playing both his games at the pace-friendly WACA.

The 26-year-old is looking forward to re-acquainting himself with the Adelaide Oval pitch despite toiling to return 1-135 from 32 overs in SA's hefty first innings last season, where Redbacks' number three Daniel Drew amassed an unbeaten 208.

"I always enjoy the wickets when they're seamer-friendly, it helps my pace and my bounce," Rocchiccioli told cricket.com.au today.

"I remember from last year if you get it in the right areas and hover around that off stump range, you get a nice bit of bounce and nice drift with the wind.

"I know Gaz (Australia Test spinner Nathan Lyon) obviously enjoys bowling here a lot, as does (India's Ravichandran) Ashwin when he's played Test cricket here.

"So it's a good place to bowl spin.

"Shield cricket is so hard when you're playing at home, but even harder when you're away from home in foreign conditions and you only get those touch points once a year.

"So you've got to draw from the past as much as you can, and then transfer it into the middle and run a bit on the fly."

SA currently sit second on the Shield ladder behind early competition leaders Tasmania, with WA – champions for the past two seasons – just 0.03 points adrift of the Redbacks in third position.

South Australia squad: Jake Lehmann (c), Wes Agar, Jake Carder, Harry Conway, Brendan Doggett, Daniel Drew, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Henry Hunt, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Harry Nielsen, Kelvin Smith.

 

Western Australia squad: Sam Whiteman (c), Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Cameron Gannon, Jayden Goodwin, Aaron Hardie, Liam Haskett, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Charlie Stobo, Ashton Turner, Teague Wyllie.

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