Redbacks return to club land to push selection claims

After coach Jason Gillespie forecasted changes following a resounding Marsh One-Day Cup loss to Tasmania, South Australia's players turned out for their club sides on the weekend to push their case for future selection.

Last Friday, the Redbacks suffered a humbling nine-wicket defeat to the Tigers at Junction Oval that was over inside 50 overs and put an end to South Australia's title hopes.

The poor Marsh Cup campaign coupled with a winless Marsh Sheffield Shield season to date had Gillespie indicating a review of the playing roster is set to take place at season's end.

So less than 24 hours after the loss, a bulk of the XI that lost to Tasmania turned out for their clubs in the SACA Premier Cricket competition.

The state players were already committed to playing Round 13 of club cricket but after the events in Melbourne, each match held greater significance.

Redbacks captain Travis Head continued his impressive run of form with 178 from just 138 balls for Tea Tree Gully, crashing 19 fours and eight sixes against Port Adelaide.

Adelaide University paceman Wes Agar ripped through Prospect with 8-32 in the first innings and made it 10 wickets for the match with 2-48 in the innings-and-80-run win.

Jake Lehmann (113 for East Torrens) and Jake Weatherald (131 for Adelaide University) both made centuries at the top of the order for their clubs, while Sturt allrounder Corey Kelly backed up a quick-fire 54 batting at second-drop with 4-29.

And Redbacks new-ball bowler Daniel Worrall collected 2-26 from eight overs for Kensington against Mark Cosgrove's Northern Districts at Parkinson Oval.

"I suppose any time there is poor performance, positions get reviewed," Gillespie said after last week’s defeat.

"It's a really tricky one. We've got some wonderful players, but we'll have to wait and see. We'll get to the end of the season.

"Now that we're completely out of this tournament, there might be scope to give some other players some opportunities to see how they go … and have a look at them. Same in the Shield.

"As with any losses you have and if you have continual losses, you review everything."

While some players dominated, Callum Ferguson (23 for West Torrens) and Alex Carey (12 for Glenelg) missed out on some valuable time in the middle.

Carey has been in sublime form for South Australia since the conclusion of the KFC BBL, posting 82no and 125 in the Sheffield Shield and 99 in the one-day game against NSW at Adelaide Oval.

Wrist-spinner Peter Hatzoglou produced figures of 0-71 from 10 overs for Prospect, while Harry Nielsen and Cameron Valente did not feature on the weekend.

South Australia's next game is not until the Shield clash with Queensland in Brisbane from March 23, with a Marsh Cup match to follow on March 28.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, Australia allrounder Glenn Maxwell made the most of his return to club cricket for Fitzroy-Doncaster as he took 4-35 before rain washed out their game against Kingston-Hawthorn.