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Cricket News: Players to watch out for in Sheffield Shield 2021/22 | Players looking to impress the selectors in the Sheffield Shield 2021/22 season ahead of the Ashes

Australian domestic calendar begins with the Marsh One-Day Cup and the Sheffield Shield game between Western Australia and South Australia. The first game recently finished at the Karen Rolton Oval in Adelaide.

The Sheffield Shield 2021/22 season is particularly important for a handful of players, given that it is the Ashes year and the batting line-up is hinged on two players – Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne – scoring the bulk of the runs. Given the fragility of the batting line-up, a number of spots are up for grabs and there are a few players trying to prove a point to the selectors.

Let’s take a look at some of the players who will battle it out to earn their maiden Test call-up and also some players vying to get back into the Test team.

South Australia:

• Travis Head – After losing his CA contract for 2021-22, Head has a lot to prove. Once a player who was touted as the next Australian captain, has failed to live up to his potential and along with his state captaincy, will also look to improve on his own batting performances.
• Alex Carey – The man who many think will replace Tim Paine as the next WK batsman is yet to make his test debut. He will look to score big hundreds this time and try to push his case for that number 6 batting spot.

Western Australia:

• Cameron Green – Green is inarguably the next big thing to come out of Australian Cricket along with Will Pucovski of Victoria. Green made his debut against India during the last summer and impressed with his range of shots with the bat. He was not able to make an impact with the ball and is still wicketless in Test Cricket. He will be looking to change that this summer and is one to watch out for.
• Josh Inglis – After impressing the selectors in white ball cricket, Inglis will look to battle it out with Carey for the wicket keeper spot to replace Tim Paine. He averages 34.45 with the bat so far in FC cricket but his glovework has left many experts impressed and can give a tough fight to Alex Carey.

Queensland:

• Usman Khawaja – After revealing that he and Langer are still on great terms, Khawaja will look to start the season with a bang against Tasmania and get the runs on the board from the get go. He has dropped out of favour of the selectors since the Ashes of 2019 but is still one of the best bats going around in domestic cricket.
• Bryce Street – The 23-year-old opening bat averages 38 with the bat in 16 FC matches. That average will only keep increasing as we see more of him. A batsman who fits the mould of the traditional Test batsman, Street likes to occupy the crease for long periods and Australia will need someone like him at the top if Warner has to play his natural game.
• Michael Neser – Neser has been around the Australian set up for a while now but hasn’t quite able to make the cut for the baggy green. With five Tests coming up he will definitely look to give selectors plenty of reasons to pick him ahead of some of the other bowlers. He has been one the best bowlers in domestic circuit for the past couple of years.
• Mitchell Swepson – Having made his white-ball debut last summer, Swepson made an impact by grabbing the big wicket of Kohli. Averaging just 23 from five matches and grabbing 32 wickets in the 2020-21 season, he is one to watch out for to replace Lyon after his retirement.

Tasmania:

• Jake Doran – The 24-year-old is another wicket-keeper batsman who will try and impress his fellow counterpart and state captain Tim Paine. Jake Doran has not impressed a lot with the bat averaging only 29 but he has definitely impressed with the gloves and is one to watch out for the future
• Matthew Wade – Time and again the selectors have backed Wade to come good in the test arena and time and again he has failed to live up to the expectations. Averaging just 29 from 36 Tests, he played the last summer against India as a specialist bat. The returns were below average but Wade is an experienced campaigner and will look to seal a spot for the Ashes with some strong performances early on.

Victoria:

• Will Pucovski – Pucovski impressed everyone and lived up to his hype by scoring a 60 on debut against the mighty Indian bowling attack. His summer was cut short with a shoulder injury but he will be raring to go and fight for that opening spot alongside Warner for the Ashes.
• James Pattinson – Pattinson has always been on the side lines of the Australian setup just due to the fact that the current fast bowlers are probably one of the best in the world. But with Starc out of form, Pattinson will be looking to make his mark on the domestic season in order to get a go in the 5-match series against England.

New South Wales:

• Jason Sangha – Sangha has been talked about for quite a while now but ha never performed up to his full potential in the Sheffield Shield. He will look to change that this summer and put in strong performances so the selectors will take notice. Sangha is definitely one of the next line of batters who will look t replace the current line up after they retire in 3-4 years’ time.
• Kurtis Patterson – The man with the highest test average of 144 has been forgotten due to the lack of performances after his mammoth series against Sri Lanka a few years back.  Patterson will be looking to make sure that he showcases his best red ball abilities and get back into the number 5 batting spot.

Written by Nash Sant. Follow Nash on Twitter today