Record-breaking opener earns late Shield call-up

Cricket selectors are often urged to pick players in form and Queensland have certainly done that by turning to uncapped 21-year-old Bryce Street for this week's Marsh Sheffield Shield game against South Australia.

Street is a chance to make his first-class debut in the match at the Gabba, starting tomorrow, after he was called into the Bulls squad in place of Sam Heazlett, who has been ruled out due to a broken finger.

SCORECARD: Queensland v Victoria, Second XI

Street's call-up comes a fortnight after he posted the highest individual score in the history of Australia's second XI competition, an extraordinary innings of 345 against Victoria.

A left-handed opener, Street had never previously made a hundred in 19 games in the competition, but finally broke through for a three-figure score at Brisbane's Ian Healy Oval. And he pushed on to a mammoth score, breaking the competition's previous record of 300 not out.

Street, who has 12 Premier Cricket centuries to his name including one earlier this season for Brisbane club Sandgate-Redcliffe, batted for 430 balls and eight-and-a-half hours across days two and three of the match.

He put on 412 for the third wicket with club and Bulls teammate Charlie Hemphrey, who finished with 151, a stand that is also believed to be among the biggest in the competition's history.

Street's knock initially required patience, scoring just three from his first 45 balls, before the floodgates opened as his next 342 runs came from 385 balls. He hit 45 fours but not a single six.

NSW opener Daniel Hughes is the only other batsman to have scored a triple-century in the competition, according to statistician Adam Morehouse.

Street has previously credited his fitness for helping him bat for long periods of time, having two seasons ago recorded the fastest two-kilometre time-trial of any state contracted player in Australia.

If selected, Street is unlikely to play in his favoured opening position against the Redbacks at the Gabba. The Bulls are stacked with top-order talent, led by current and former Test players Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Joe Burns and Matthew Renshaw, who are expected to fill the top-four batting positions.

After a number of years under the 'Futures League' moniker, the second-tier state competition has been formally rebranded as the 'second XI', though age restrictions had not been in place for a number of years.

The competition sees seven sides (one for each state except for New South Wales, which has two sides – NSW Metro and ACT/NSW Country) play four four-day games per season, while a week-long T20 competition will be held in January.

HIGHEST SCORES IN SECOND XI HISTORY

(courtesy of Adam Morehouse)

345 - BE Street (2019/20)

300* - DP Hughes (2015/16)

276 - BJ Rohrer (2014/15)

260 - MJ Cosgrove (2003/04)

239 - BP van Deinsen (2001/02)

233* - CJ Davies (2001/02)

233 - LR Mash (2005/06)

232* - CA Philipson (2005/06)

231* - AW O'Brien (2005/06)

230* - LA Carseldine (2001/02)

230* - TJ Dean (2017/18)