Undefeated in the Sheffield Shield for nearly five months, South Australia have their sights set on a historic March in Melbourne
SA eye ladder leading Vics in heavyweight Shield bout
South Australia quick Nathan McAndrew doesn't believe there's a big gap between his side and ladder leaders Victoria ahead of their top-of-the-table Sheffield Shield clash in Melbourne.
The reigning champions rose to second spot in the Shield standings with a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over New South Wales on Saturday.
After suffering consecutive defeats to start their title defence, SA have not lost a Shield match since October 18.
It's a form line that McAndrew said has the team confident in chasing back-to-back titles for the first time in the competition's 133-year history.
"I think when we're playing our best cricket, I don't think anyone is as good as us," McAndrew said.
"We're coming in with some really good form and I think they'll be looking over their shoulder, but they've played unbelievably well already. (It's) a huge credit to them, but we're playing some good cricket at the right time, so we'll take a lot of confidence into that."
After taking the most wickets of any player in the competition last season (40), McAndrew has once again shown his prowess with the ball this season, taking 31 wickets at 23.06 across seven matches.
Against NSW, SA's leading wicket-taker for the summer took season-best figures of 6-55 to give his side a crucial victory at Karen Rolton Oval.
The impressive performance comes at a time where the right-arm quick is battling constant vertigo-like sensations that has included dizziness, blurry vision, and heavy headaches.
Close to eight months on from his initial virus that has since been diagnosed as vestibular neuritis, McAndrew opened up on how he's been able to perform for his state despite dealing with this challenging issue.
"It was a pretty tough start to the season to be honest with the vertigo," McAndrew said.
"Coming back from that and probably not really being ready to play physically or mentally... I had a lot of niggles pop up with my knees and some other things. I just wasn't really anywhere near where I needed to be for playing first-class cricket.
"Back in Queensland last game, it (the vertigo) was just awful with the heat and humidity.
"The vertigo is still there, but my body is starting to come back to me... at the moment I'm hitting the crease and getting a lot more body weight and energy through the ball."
In what could be a preview of this season's Shield final, the Vics will host SA at the CitiPower Centre from 14-18 March.
South Australia sit in second position on the ladder with one round to go and a victory in round 10 will cement their place in the decider.
"Our destiny is in our hands," McAndrew said.
"What we can control is just trying to go to Junction Oval and beat them (Victoria) there. That's the only way to guarantee it.
"We got off to a bit of a slow start at the start of the season, but we've won the last two games inside three days. One with bowler friendly conditions and one not so much, so we've started playing some good cricket."
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
| Team | M | W | L | D | N/R | Ded. | Bat | Bowl | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
VIC
|
10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.56 | 9.3 | 60.86 |
|
2
SA
|
10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7.61 | 9.2 | 44.81 |
|
3
QLD
|
10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8.18 | 8.2 | 37.38 |
|
4
TAS
|
10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3.73 | 8.5 | 36.23 |
|
5
NSW
|
10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 6.94 | 8.6 | 30.54 |
|
6
WA
|
10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2.95 | 9.2 | 20.15 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points