Baggy Green bat-off: How the hopefuls fared

Coach Justin Langer has declared open season on batting spots in Australia’s Test side, sharpening the focus on those playing in the JLT Sheffield Shield in the coming weeks.

Round Two of the Shield continued on Saturday and a handful of batting contenders put in good performances, while some incumbents failed to fire.

Take a closer look at which batsmen made impressive strides and which bowlers impressed in Saturday’s action.

Who fired?

Shaun Marsh fired back at his critics in perfect fashion, scoring his second half-century of WA’s match against Tasmania. Having struck a fluent 80 in the first innings, Marsh added 98 in the second as he calmly steered the Warriors to victory in a low-scoring match. The left-hander found the boundary with ease once again, going a long way to silencing any doubts about his spot in the Test side leading into the summer.

The talk of Australian cricket after his unbeaten double-century on Friday, Marcus Harris thrived again on Saturday to finish unbeaten on 250 on another dream day for the Vics at the MCG. The numbers from the left-hander’s knock say it all; 250 runs, 403 balls, 22 fours, one six … and one massive statement.

Another left-hander who impressed on Friday and Saturday was Redbacks star Jake Lehmann, who resumed unbeaten on 76 and pushed on to his seventh first-class century. Having been spoken about as a potential Test bolter last season, the son of the former Australian coach could vault into contention with another big score next week.

For the second time in three days, NSW batsman Kurtis Patterson stood firm with a gritty half-century as wickets tumbled around him at the MCG. And, frustratingly for him, for the second time in three days he was unable to push on to the big hundred that has eluded him for more than two years. The left-hander has been one of the most consistent Shield batsmen in recent years and if he can reverse his conversion rate – he’s scored 25 first-class half-centuries and five hundreds – he’ll be hard to ignore for higher honours.

Meanwhile, the momentum for a shock recall to the Test side for Matthew Wade continues after the left-hander posted his fourth half-century from as many innings this season. Having scored an unbeaten 66 in the first innings, the left-hander finished with an even 50 in the second and only threw his wicket away late on in the chase for some quick runs. The 30-year-old averages more than 70 in Shield cricket this year and could be an option as a specialist batsman in the Test side if that form continues.

Who misfired?

It was a day to forget for a trio of Queensland batsmen who hold genuine hopes of playing in the first Test against India.

Opener Matthew Renshaw, last season’s leading Shield run-scorer, edged behind without scoring on Saturday, Joe Mennie again the man who did the damage after he’d bowled the left-hander on the opening day for just three.

Fellow opener Joe Burns didn’t fare much better, managing seven before chopping a ball onto his stumps having scored a defiant 64 in the first innings.

And Marnus Labuschagne, Australia’s incumbent Test No.6, steadied the ship somewhat with an innings of 28 from 82 balls before he attempted to cut a ball that was too close to him and offered a catch to gully.

And a word on the bowlers

With Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all expected to be fit for the first Test, the major Shield focus at the moment is on Australia’s batsmen rather than the bowlers.

But the performance of Scott Boland on Saturday is worth acknowledging, the right-armer picking up five wickets as Victoria surged towards victory. Boland’s accuracy was potent on an MCG pitch that was starting to go up-and-down and he bagged figures of 5-48 with one NSW wicket still remaining.