Shield decider questioned by top teams

Cricket Australia says it's reasonable to question the relevance of the Sheffield Shield final after the season decider ended in a draw for the third consecutive year.

Victoria and Western Australia played out a draw in the five-day decider in Hobart this week, with the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers winning the title thanks to their first-place finish in the regular season.

The Shield season's finale was also drawn last year, when the NSW Blues claimed the title after a five-day stalemate with the Warriors in Canberra. The 2012-13 final in Hobart also finished in a draw.

Both teams raised concerns following this week's final, with Bushrangers allrounder David Hussey saying both the length of the decider and the fact that the top-ranked team needs only a draw to win the title should be reviewed.

Alcohol.Think Again Warriors coach Justin Langer was also critical of the pitch at Blundstone Arena, which yielded just 26 wickets in five days.

Cricket Australia's Executive General Manager of High Performance Pat Howard said the concerns of both states would be discussed.

"We share some of the concerns raised following the Shield Final and we will discuss these in our post-season review with the states and all relevant stakeholders," Howard said.

"We've made pleasing progress in rewarding attacking cricket this season with changes to the Shield points system and quality of pitches which have produced more outright results, and we want to continue that momentum.

"Sheffield Shield cricket has been played for 123 years, with the Final introduced just over 30 years ago. It is reasonable to question whether it is still relevant and whether the Final’s playing conditions – with the home team only needing a draw – foster Test-match standard cricket and a quality experience for the fans, participating teams and the players."

In an interview with cricket.com.au earlier this month, Howard praised curators for the pitches they had produced throughout the summer, and lauded the effect the new points system had had on the brand of cricket being played around the country.

Related: Howard pleased with altered format

Queensland captain James Hopes added the new format “mirrors” conditions at Test level and promoted attacking and positive cricket.

Results this season reflect this; the final was just the fifth draw from 28 completed Shield matches, with three games abandoned due to the passing of Phillip Hughes.

Chief of Langer's frustrations on Wednesday was the lack of deterioration in the Bellerive surface.

Looking to force a result, the Warriors were able to plunder 293 runs from 55 overs for the loss of just two wickets on days four and five before they took four wickets in 95 overs as the Vics batted out a draw.

Some defensive batting from the Bushrangers on the final day, which was understandable given they needed only a draw to win the competition, added to the frustrating finish; none of the six Victorian batsmen on the final day finished with a strike-rate of more than 40.

"It was really disappointing. We've had it two years in a row now," Langer said of the pitches at Bellerive and at Manuka Oval in the decider last year.

"Whilst I'm sure Victoria will have a different opinion, I love the game of cricket - I have since I was a little kid - but watching cricket like that over five days it's not great cricket.

"When you arrive and basically know it's going to be almost impossible to get 20 wickets to win the game on a one-day (type) wicket in a neutral venue it's pretty disappointing.

"That might sound like sour grapes but that's just me being as honest as I can be.

"When we got here there wasn't a blade of grass on it.

"When it's such a one-sided contest, whether it's throughout the season or the showcase game of the season, for me that's very disappointing."

"There's been good shield finals in the past.

"Cricket Australia are hell-bent on, and made a big deal of it a couple of years ago, playing cricket on really good cricket wickets, and for the majority of domestic cricket we've been seeing that. It's a shame when you play the shield final (it changes).

"We would never play Test cricket on these kind of wickets so if we're trying to create a nursery to help guys turn into really good Test cricketers, in my view these wickets, and the one last year at Manuka (Oval in Canberra), are too one-sided.

"It doesn't happen throughout the season, and in my opinion it shouldn't happen in the Shield final either.

"Yes, that team that finishes on top should have an advantage but if they're the best team in the competition they should win on good wickets, rather than (the type of) wickets we've just played on."

Hussey was thrilled to help his side claim another Shield title, but suggested the format of the final didn't encourage attacking cricket.

He also questioned the wisdom of holding a five-day final when the regular season consists of four-day matches.

"I’ve got a foot in both camps," the Bushrangers veteran said.

"I don’t understand why it’s a five-day game when we play four-day cricket. I don’t understand why you just have to draw the game to win the Shield.

"I truly believe you have to play the game to win the game and sadly if you get a draw because you finish on top you get to hold it up.

"Maybe a bit of tinkering needs to be done."