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Who, when, where?

It’s a rematch of last year’s final with reigning champions Western Australia again taking on Victoria for the ultimate Marsh Sheffield Shield crown. WA will host the final at the WACA Ground for the second consecutive season, with the five-day match taking place from Thursday, March 23 to Monday, March 27 with play beginning each day at 10 am AWST (1 pm AEDT).

WA secured hosting rights to the final by finishing the season top of the table with six wins, 4.89 points clear of second-placed Victoria, and despite losing their final home-and-away game of the season to the Vics, had enough of a buffer to still finish on top.

How can I watch?

The match will be streamed live on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app, and will be broadcast live on Fox Cricket and Kayo Sports, and SportFM in Western Australia if wireless is your thing.

Kayo offers a free trial for new subscribers, and you can sign up here.

And don’t forget, live scores, wicket replays and caps are available in our match center.

Can I attend?

Absolutely! Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for concession, and free for ages 15 and under. Tickets are on sale here and can also be purchased at the gate each match day.

Gates will open at 8.30am each day with a variety of food and drink outlets available.

What does the formulary guide say?

Western Australia: LWWLD (newest first)

They have been the dominant state all season and clinched back-to-back finals at the WACA Ground with back-to-back home and away wins over Tasmania. Both sides of that were defeats to South Australia and Victoria, though the former after another Perth Scorchers BBL title win and the latter when they rested their frontline bowlers who had already secured a final at home. His batting depth has been tested with the retirement of Shaun Marsh and the departures of Josh Inglis, Mitch Marsh and Marcus Stoinis for Australia’s ODI series in India. But his bowling attack has been world-class all season, with his production line of rapids able to cover for the losses of Jhye Richardson (injury) and Lance Morris (domestic duties).

Victory: WWWWW

After going winless in their first five games, the Vics have stormed to a second straight final with five straight wins against each state to end the regular season. They secured second place with last week’s emphatic win over WA, skipping Queensland in the final round after the Bulls could only manage a draw in Hobart. He has been led by his disciplined young bowling attack which has knocked out each side twice in those five matches, and the impressive form of Matt Short, with the right-handed all-rounder scoring 50 or more in five of seven innings since KFC BBL|12 .

What big names are playing?

Except for a couple of international white ball stars who are currently in India for Australia’s three match ODI series, these teams are stacked! lance morris will return straight to the WA squad after returning from Test squad duties, with the hosts also expected to welcome closers joel paris and matt kelly they returned to the mix after they were rested for the final round clash with Victoria last week.

Prior to being drafted into the Test squad during the Australian summer, Morris was the Sheffield Shield’s leading wicket-taker at the season’s halfway point with 27 at an incredible strike rate of 33.1. Apart from the pending physical condition of Paris that he missed last week’s game due to back problems, by ashton turner the inclusion after the retirement of great status Shaun Marsh could be the only change to the WA side that lifted the Shield last year. cameron bancroft has been the leading run-scorer this season with 880 at 58.66, including four centuries, while hilton cartwright It is fourth on that list with 629 at 41.93 and in October at 18 years and 163 days Wyllie Teague he became the youngest player since Ricky Ponting in 1992-93 to reach a Sheffield Shield century.

Missing from the WA squad are hapless fast Jhye Richardson, who underwent surgery earlier this month to repair his troublesome hamstring and Australian ODI representatives Cameron Green, Mitch Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis and Ashton Agar. .

after welcoming scott boland last week, which took eight wickets to help secure Victoria’s place in the final, Victoria will be boosted by the return of Test stars peter’s comb and Todd Murphy for this week’s game. Intrigue surrounds whether Murphy, who took 14 wickets at 25.21 in his debut Test series, will be preferred to the veteran left-footed. jon hollandwith sides unlikely to select two spinners for the contest.

hand comb, marcus harris – who got married over the weekend – Boland and Murphy will look to cement their claims for a place in the Ashes squad over the winter with strong performances in the decider, while matte short will be hoping to continue his purple patch which has produced 483 runs at 80.5 with two centuries since the end of KFC BBL|12. Will Sutherland has handed the reins of the captaincy back to Handscomb after winning four straight games since the Big Bash, while the closer mitchell perry he’s out to continue his hot streak on a maiden tour of Australia A next month. Victoria is in top form for the final, apart from Glenn Maxwell who is also with the ODI team in India.

Sheffield Shield Final Teams

Western Australia: what will be announced

Victory: Peter Handscomb (c), Scott Boland, Ashley Chandrasinghe, Travis Dean, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Jon Holland, Campbell Kellaway, Cameron McClure, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Mitchell Perry, Matt Short, Will Sutherland

expected XI

Western Australia: Cameron Bancroft, Sam Whiteman (c), Teague Wyllie, Hilton Cartwright, Aaron Hardie, Ashton Turner, Josh Philippe (week), Joel Parris, Lance Morris, Corey Rocchiccioli, Matthew Kelly

Victory: Marcus Harris, Ashley Chandrasinghe, Peter Handscomb (c), Campbell Kellaway, Matt Short, Will Sutherland, Sam Harper (week), Fergus O’Neill, Mitchell Perry, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland

What if it’s a tie?

If the match ends in a draw after five days, as it did last year when WA was declared champions, then the title will go to the state that scores the most bonus points after the first innings.

Bonus points are awarded only on the first 100 overs of each team’s first innings. The batting side earns 0.01 of a bonus point for every run over 200 in the first 100 overs. For example: 350 runs after 100 overs gives you 1.5 bonus points). Side bowling earns 0.1 of a bonus point for each wicket they take. (eg: 10 wickets in the first 100 overs equals 1 bonus point).

Last season’s decider was the first time the Shield champion had been determined by the bonus points system since the tie-break criteria for the final was introduced in the 2018-19 season. WA secured a drought-breaking title by amassing 1.67 bonus points in the first innings to Victoria’s 1.44 as the morning of day three turned into a gripping contest with a sensational 2-34 spell by Paris topping to WA.

How is your story?

The last two WA-Victoria finals have been draws with WA being declared champions in 2021-22 with first-innings bonus points and Victoria in 2014-15 by virtue of being the top-ranked team.

Bancroft (141) and Sam Whiteman (85 and 123) set up the match for WA last season as the hosts posted 386 in their first innings before Victoria responded with 306 (Handscomb 80 and Perry 74) as Aaron Hardie and Paris took three. land each. . Hardie then ensured WA claimed its first title in 23 years with an unbeaten marathon of 174 as he and Whiteman put up 174 for the sixth wicket, rallying from 5-110 in their second innings to clinch a draw.

Victoria has dominated both clashes this season – a high-scoring draw at Junction Oval in round two and a seven-wicket victory in round 10 to secure a place in the final. Bancroft scored a ton on the opening day of the round two competition before Victoria captain Handscomb responded with the highest Sheffield Shield score in almost a decade with an epic 281 not out. Marcus Harris and Sam Harper also recorded centuries as Victoria declared their first innings on day four leading by 150, with WA falling to 3-19 before Hilton Cartwright 76 failed to save them.

Scott Boland’s return from domestic duties was the catalyst to Victoria’s seven-wicket victory in the final round last week with his eight wickets for the match helping to roll WA for 122 and 236. The rest of his attack : Will Sutherland, Jon Holland, Fergus O’Neill and Mitch Perry – each took three wickets as Matt Short, Harris and Campbell Kellaway hit a half-century in Victoria’s first 298-innings reply before chasing 61 on the final day to seal a rematch in this week’s finale.

In the 2014–15 season, top-ranked Victoria clinched the title after a drawn final with WA in Hobart. The current coaches of both states, Adam Voges (WA) and Chris Rogers (Victoria) were playing and scored centuries. Harris was playing for WA at the time and scored 81 and 158 not out, but it proved to no avail as the Vics held to a draw to secure the title on day five. Current players who also participated in that match included Boland, Handscomb, Bancroft, and Whiteman.

The only other time WA and Victoria had met in a final since the decisive Shield was introduced in the 1982-83 season was in 1986-87 with WA declared champions, the first title of their three peats, scoring 654 in their first innings. as that match also ended in a tie.

NSW have won the most Sheffield Shield titles with 47, followed by Victoria with 32, WA (16), South Australia (13), Queensland (9) and Tasmania (3).