Coach Ryan Harris is not buying into SA being the hunted as his side target more success in 2025-26
South Australia preview: Reigning champs want to do the 'hunting'
For the first time in their history, South Australia enter the new domestic season as the team to beat in both the four- and one-day formats.
Having waited 13 years for men's 50-over success and an agonising 29 seasons to lift the Sheffield Shield once again, both came in the space of a glorious few weeks for South Australian cricket last March.
SA emerged as clear frontrunners in season where their remaining five teams were separated by less than a handful of points, meaning Ryan Harris' side is the one they'll all be chasing when the new campaign kicks off around the country this week.
Not that the state's second-year coach sees it that way.
"I've done a couple of interviews now and everyone keeps saying we're the hunted when in our minds we're not," Harris told cricket.com.au ahead of the 2025-26 summer.
"Yeah, we won, we had a fantastic year but we're not listening to that.
"The guys know now what it feels like to win and how important it is to this state that they want a winning team and a winning culture.
"One of my themes in the meetings we've had is we're not the hunted. We're still making sure that we're hunting out there and trying to get as much success as we can and play the best cricket we can.
"They just know how good the feeling of winning is now, so they're so determined to try and keep it up."
Men's season previews
NSW | Queensland | South Australia
Like Shield finalists Tasmania the season before with Beau Webster, Mitch Owen and Matt Kuhnemann breaking into the national side, success brings opportunity, and Harris is understandably bullish on several of his players being right in the mix.
Travis Head and Alex Carey are entrenched in the national set up, while uncapped quick Brendan Doggett's standout 11-wicket performance in the Shield final saw him included in the Test squad over the winter.
Captain Nathan McSweeney tasted international cricket last summer and Jason Sangha relished his first season with SA after moving from NSW and continued his hot streak for Australia A with a double-century against Sri Lanka A in Darwin in July.
And Harris has nominated opener Henry Hunt as a smokey for Australian selection should he start the summer well, with the right-hander returning to near his best last season with his 682 runs placing him second behind Jake Weatherald (906) for specialist openers in the 2024-25 Sheffield Shield.
"If he starts the season well and goes bang, you never know because he's a readymade opener … and could be around the mix as well," Harris said of Hunt.
Should Australia require pace-bowling reinforcements with Test captain Pat Cummins under an injury cloud as the Ashes approaches, Harris said Doggett was "ready to go" to start the season after overcoming a hip niggle that forced him out of the Caribbean Test tour.
"He had some really good time off and he's been winding up for a while now," former Aussie paceman Harris said. "He's a little bit older now, he knows what he needs, he's bowling well in net sessions and he's bowling fast, and that's what we want. So he's on track."
Harris doesn't have to look far for an indication of just how tightly fought this season could be after Queensland fought back from 95 all out in the first innings for the Shield final to set SA a challenging chase of 270 that they managed with four wickets to spare.
"It is such a close competition. Last year we saw Victoria finish on four wins and Queensland had three and Queensland made the final, it's how close it is with bonus points," he said.
"And the boys know that; they know they have to be up and on their game every time they walk out to bat, bowl or field.
"We had a little bit of luck last year in a couple of games, but you make your own luck. But there's no doubt they're focused on what's ahead this year."
2025-26 squad
Wes Agar, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey*, Brendan Doggett, Daniel Drew, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Travis Head*, Henry Hunt, Hanno Jacobs, Spencer Johnson, Thomas Kelly, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Conor McInerney, Nathan McSweeney*, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton. Rookies: Aidan Cahill, Douwtjie Hoogenboezem, Harry Matthias, Campbell Thompson
Ins: Hanno Jacobs, Douwtjie Hoogenboezem
Outs: Harry Conway, Kyle Brazell
* Denotes Cricket Australia contract
Last season
Sheffield Shield: Champions
One-Day Cup: Champions
Possible best XIs
For first one-day game (v NSW, September 20): Mackenzie Harvey, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Daniel Drew, Alex Carey (wk), Jason Sangha, Jake Lehmann, Hanno Jacobs, Nathan McAndrew, Brendan Doggett, Wes Agar, Lloyd Pope
Sheffield Shield (at full strength): Henry Hunt, Nathan McSweeney, Jason Sangha, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Jake Lehmann, Liam Scott, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Brendan Doggett, Spencer Johnson
Inside word with coach Ryan Harris
Pre-season
South Australia sent a squad up to Darwin last month to play Bangladesh A in a red-ball match as well as white-ball games against Nepal, while the Adelaide Strikers also played in the Top End T20 tournament, losing the final to Perth Scorchers. Mackenzie Harvey finished as the leading run-scorer with 306 in eight innings while new recruit Hanno Jacobs picked up 13 wickets for the tournament.
"We went up to Darwin and played a four-day game against Bangladesh A. And then the rest of our squad, plus our Academy and a couple of under-19s guys played two T20s and a 45-over game against Nepal," Harris said. "(Jason) Sangha got a good hundred up in Darwin. He's in a good place, he's not thinking too far ahead. He knows that Australian stuff could be on the horizon but if you talk to him, he's just so focused about playing for us and doing well for us.
"The bowling unit were good. (Jordan) Buckingham sort of ran out of gas at the back end of last season and had a couple of technical flaws we had to fix up. He's worked on them and is going nicely now. Wes Agar's been in England and played a little bit of cricket and he came back and bowled well, so we've got everyone going in the right direction."
Injury and availability
Captain Nathan McSweeney, allrounder Liam Scott and fast bowler Henry Thornton will miss the state's first two One-Day Cup matches (against NSW on Saturday and Western Australia next Wednesday) as part of Australia A's tour of India for two first-class matches, which got underway in Lucknow on Tuesday. Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mackenzie Harvey, Scott and Thornton will then be unavailable for their Sheffield Shield opener against Victoria beginning October 4 due to three 50-over matches that follow against India A.
"Trav (Head) is probably not available as he's got the T20s (against New Zealand) and (ODIs and T20 internationals) against India coming up in October, but if he turned around tomorrow and said, 'I need to have a hit', he's welcome," Harris said. "Alex Carey will be around for the first couple of one-dayers and two of the four Shield games they're available for, if not more."
Meanwhile, on the injury front, left-arm speedster Spencer Johnson won't be available for South Australia until after the Big Bash after scans revealed bone stress in his back that has kept him sidelined since the Indian Premier League in April.
"There's signs of healing there but it's not as good as we would have hoped," Harris said. "He'll have another scan in six weeks or something like that just to reassess where he's at.
"It's not ideal timing for him, he hasn't had great luck over the last little bit so ideally this comes good, and he can have a long career and play lots more cricket for us and hopefully Australia."
Talisman Ben Manenti is also dealing with an ankle issue that will keep him out of SA's two one-day matches to start the season with Harris hopeful the allrounder will "be right to go for the first Shield game, and if not, game two".
"With the Aussie A players being picked for India, that leaves a bit of a hole in the middle order for us, but it does for everyone," Harris said. "What that does is creates opportunity for other players in your squad and sometimes even outside your squad."
Squad stability
As a testament of their breakthrough Shield and one-day success, South Australia made just two list changes during the off-season – their fewest in seven years. Hard-hitting pace-bowling allrounder Hanno Jacobs has joined from NSW with rookie Dokie Hoogenboezem recruited from WA. The pair replace delisted quick Harry Conway and former rookie Kyle Brazell.
"The tough part for us (at the end) of last season was to let two guys go," Harris said. "We didn't have a spot for Kyle Brazell. He was showing some good improvement, but we just didn't quite see him ahead of some of the other guys that we've got.
"The other was Harry Conway, that was a really tough decision. A great character in the group and he was that back up bowler last season who when he got his opportunity did really well. But we just thought it was an opportunity to refresh the list a little bit. Getting Hanno with what he can do with the ball and bat was sort of a replacement for him.
"Dokie is one that I didn't know too much about but Shaun Williams, our list manager, had been watching him for a little while. He's a hard-hitting left-hander; he's ready to play he reckons but he's got a little bit to learn yet. He's going to get an opportunity in second XI and club cricket to get heaps of runs."
Getting Fraser-McGurk firing again
After a world-record 29-ball century in one of his first knocks for South Australia, followed by a breakthrough Big Bash campaign and incredible Indian Premier League stint in 2023-24 that put him on the cusp of T20 World Cup selection, Jake Fraser-McGurk found the going tougher in his second season in Adelaide.
He scored just one half-century (for Melbourne Renegades) in the 2024-25 season and has slipped out of the national frame after a top score of 20 in his nine white-ball internationals last summer. The right-hander heads to India for Australia A's three 50-over matches and Harris said he'd worked hard on adjusting his technique since returning from the West Indies tour in July.
"We love him being dynamic but when it's not quite going your way, it doesn't come off very often," the SA coach said. "And that's the game and that's form. I've spent a bit of time with him and working out what he wants, and he just wants to play all forms of cricket and wants to do well and be part of our team.
"He's worked really hard on his technique in the last few weeks since he's been back. He made a really good fifty in Darwin, so we'll have to wait and see how he goes and where he sits in our teams but there's no doubt he's keen to play some red-ball cricket along the way."
Players to watch
"Conor McInerney is one who we stuck with last season. He's done a lot of work in the winter and that will hopefully put him in a good position to score more runs," Harris said. "He faces a lot of balls Conor, which helps our middle order and we just need him to get a few more, which he knows. He got an unlucky decision in the Darwin game, but he looked excellent up until that moment.
"Liam Scott's another one who's going to over with Australia A but he's looking forward to another big season. Mac Harvey – he's had a really good year, and he's done some good work in the off-season. He got a few runs in the Top End T20 series and he's off to India as well. He definitely will come into red-ball calculations, but hopefully not for a while because that means our top order going well."