After two seasons at the bottom of the Shield standings, WA have a new coach and captain in 2026-27
New Western Australia coach 'bullish' on bouncing back
After a second straight year at the wrong end of the domestic standings, change was needed for Western Australia.
Three-time Sheffield Shield winning coach Adam Voges handed the reins to his long-time lieutenant, Beau Casson, with the one-Test spinner saying he has "loved" his first preseason in charge.
Casson's first major decision of his tenure was installing a new Sheffield Shield captain, selecting Aaron Hardie to replace Sam Whiteman, who led the state to multiple Shield titles in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
"New head coach, new red ball captain … It's our chance to write the pages of this chapter within WA cricket," Casson told cricket.com.au.
WA's list has seen undergone a bit of remodelling with the departure of quicks Cameron Gannon (Queensland) and Bryce Jackson (NSW) to rival states while Matt Kelly has hung up the boots.
Tasmania poached Teague Wyllie, the youngest Shield centurion since Ricky Ponting, while Baxter Holt and Keaton Critchell weren't offered contracts.
To help fill the hole left by the three fast bowling departures, Kieran Elliott was recruited from Tassie. The burly 31-year-old seamer played four matches in each competition for the Tigers last summer.
However, it's not as if WA have a shortage of pace bowlers.
Internationally capped pair Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris will be hoping for a smooth run with injuries this summer, while Joel Paris has been a star on the domestic scene for many years. Liam Haskett and Brody Couch both offer points of difference while young guns Mahli Beardman and Albert Esterhuysen have shown match-winning potential.
Men's season previews
"We've got some young players coming through that we're excited about to go with a mixture of experience," Casson said.
"We know if we can tap into both of those age profiles within our squad, we're going to be very competitive. I'm very bullish on how we'll go and how we can improve."
But like most states, their depth will be tested early in the season with the Australian ODI and Test sides in southern Africa and the 'A' squads in India.
2026-27 squad
Head coach: Beau Casson (new)
Squad: Cameron Bancroft, Mahli Beardman, Hilton Cartwright, Cooper Connolly, Brody Couch, Joel Curtis, Kieran Elliott, Sam Fanning, Jayden Goodwin, Cameron Green*, Aaron Hardie, Liam Haskett, Josh Inglis*, Will Malajczuk, Mitch Marsh*, Tom Murray, Lance Morris, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman
Rookies: Simon Budge, Albert Esterhuysen, Jordan Quiggin, Corey Wasley
Ins: Kieran Elliott (Tasmania), Will Malajczuk, Tom Murray
Outs: Keaton Critchell, Cameron Gannon (Queensland), Baxter Holt, Bryce Jackson (NSW), Matt Kelly (retired), Teague Wyllie (Tasmania)
* Denotes Cricket Australia contract
Last season
Sheffield Shield: Sixth
One-Day Cup: Fourth
Possible XIs
For first one-day game (v South Australia, September 18): Cameron Bancroft, Sam Fanning, Sam Whiteman, Joel Curtis (wk), Aaron Hardie, Ashton Turner (c), Hilton Cartwright, Joel Paris, Brody Couch, Liam Haskett, Lance Morris
Sheffield Shield (at full strength): Cameron Bancroft, Sam Whiteman, Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis (wk), Aaron Hardie (c), Hilton Cartwright, Joel Paris, Corey Rocchiccioli, Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris
Players in representative squads
Australian ODI (Sep 15-30): Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh
Australian Test (Oct 9-31): Cooper Connolly, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis
Australia A four-day (Sep 22-Oct 2): Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli
Australia A one-day (Oct 6-11): Mahli Beardman, Aaron Hardie
Inside word with new WA coach Beau Casson
New Shield captain
Aaron Hardie's elevation to the top job in the Shield side is a realisation of a talent identified a decade ago in WA's pathway system. The 27-year-old allrounder has previously filled in as skipper for an absent Ashton Turner for the Perth Scorchers and has been given the duty for Australia A in previous seasons too.
He replaces Whiteman, who at the end of last summer signed a three-year county deal as a local player for Yorkshire. However, the 34-year-old can continue to play in the Australian competitions as an 'overseas' player.
"It's obviously something you take a lot of time (to decide on)," Casson said.
"The underlying reason for the change is 'what does the state need right now to be able to go in the direction that we want to go?'
"We're really appreciative and thankful for the work and everything Sam Whiteman's contributed in the captaincy side of things.
"We're very excited for what Aaron can create and stamp his own position on the side as state red-ball captain.
"He has a clear vision and direction that he wants to take the group, and it's been nice to witness. He has a great understanding of the game, but he also connects exceptionally well between the experienced group as well as the younger cohort, and that's been a real feature that I've noticed."
Fast bowlers' fitness
Lance Morris is on the comeback from serious back surgery while Jhye Richardson has had a chequered past with injuries. However, Casson is optimistic about the prospects of the two quicks.
"Lance was disappointed to drop off the Cricket Australia (contract) list," Casson said.
"But it's a great opportunity for us to get Lance more involved within our program here at WA Cricket. It obviously hasn't been a smooth journey for him from an injury side of things, but he's doing everything he can.
"We've seen him be able to get through a couple of days of cricket over here with a two-day (intra-squad) game and the two one-day games.
"History tells us that he's been a very good performer at first-class level. If we can get him to be a consistent performer, bowling in excess of 140kph, 145 plus, we hope to be able to provide him the opportunity to be able to put his name up in lights to play at a higher level.
"(Jhye) went to play some county cricket for Yorkshire, then he went and played in Guyana for the Scorchers XI.
"He's away for the Australia A in the red-ball tour. He's been bowling big overs here, so we believe he's really well prepared for that.
"Similar to what I said with Lance, we just want to see him back out playing the game. When he plays and gets a regular run at it, he has confidence in what he's doing, and we'll see some good performances once we see a few games strung together for Jhye, I'm very confident in that."
Young gun
Although a back complaint has kept former Australia U19 captain Will Malajczuk (pronounced Mala-check) from bowling for much of the preseason, his batting form has tongues wagging in the west. The allrounder, who turns 19 on September 23, hit a 51-ball ton against Japan U19s earlier this year and showed more encouraging signs in WA's recent trial matches. With Cooper Connolly expected to spend more time around the Australian squad this summer, it could present more regular playing opportunities for Malajczuk.
"It's just been great to see how well he's been striking the cricket ball on the limited preparation that he's had," Casson said.
"There's actually some really good cricket smarts that he's been able to display over the last couple of games, when to go up the gears, when you go down the gears, and being able to manage an innings when he's been the dominant part of that.
"We look forward to seeing what he can produce."
Injury list
It's looking like a clean bill of health for WA to begin the season, with the exception of Malajczuk who isn't ready to resume bowling.
"We're pretty fortunate at the moment," Casson said. "Touch wood … (hopefully) we can try and make sure that it stays that way."