Bored and it's the end of the season, so am doing a stocktake of each team. I tried to do what I would pick for each state, and what changes I'd try to make during the off-season:
NSW:
1. Sam Konstas
2. Daniel Hughes
3. Blake MacDonald
4. Ollie Davies
5. Moises Henriques
6. Jack Edwards
7. Sean Abbott
8. Lachlan Shaw/Ryan Hicks
9. Nathan Lyon (Tanveer Sangha/Chris Green during the Test season)
10. Chris Tremain
11. Jack Nisbet
I heard rumours that Hughes might leave, so if he does NSW need another experienced top-order bat. Nikitaris hasn't been awful, but he hasn't done a lot better so I think I'd start him in seconds. MacDonald's coming off a dominant season in Grade Cricket and hasn't had the same kind of chances that Nikitaris and Hackney have had so I'd probably start him.
Davies has to bat 4 now. It's the way to get national selection and he's clearly the best bat in the team. Not sure if Moises plays on or not, if he doesn't it might be worth getting another bat in. Although I guess Patterson still exists and the younger Davies might be worth a crack.
Time to move on from Gilkes. I heard Phillippe might come in, but if not I'd give Shaw or Hicks a crack. Both young keepers averaging over 50 at Grade level this season. I'm not sold on Hicks's keeping but maybe it'll look better than it did in the World Cup?
There's a lot of bowling depth in the team - notable names that didn't make the XI include Bird, Salzmann, Kerr, Hatcher and maybe Anderson and Straker. I think given the age of the attack I'd give Nisbet the first crack ahead of Bird, though I still expect Bird to play regularly.
Queensland:
1. Matthew Renshaw
2. Bryce Street
3. Usman Khawaja (Max Bryant during the Test season)
4. Jack Clayton
5. Ben McDermott
6. Jimmy Pierson
7. Michael Neser
8. Xavier Bartlett
9. Mark Steketee
10. Mitchell Swepson
11. Callum Vidler
It's crazy how poor they've been this season given the quality of the team. Burns not considered as IIRC he's been delisted. They've got pretty decent depth so I expect the underperforming batters to be under the pump.
Vidler in the XI over Wildermuth and Sandhu is a bit controversial based on Vidler's lack of dominance at Grade level, but I feel like he's gotta play. He looks special and I'm far from surprised he stood up to be counted when he got a call-up.
South Australia:
1. Henry Hunt
2. Kyle Brazell
3. Nathan McSweeney
4. Thomas Kelly
5. Daniel Drew
6. Alex Carey (Harry Nielsen during the Test season)
7. Ben Manenti
8. Nathan McAndrew
9. Spencer Johnson
10. Brendan Doggett
11. Jordan Buckingham
Man that batting is terrible. Even Rexy's recent form hasn't been great. Brazell I guess isn't a complete proven failure unlike Smith and Carder, Kelly's shown glimpses of being something and Drew was good in 2022/23. Think it's time to move on from Lehmann and JFM still needs a lot of work to prove himself as even consistently Shield standard. At a minimum they need another top-order bat, maybe even two.
Their seam bowling depth is excellent - as well as the four in the side there's Wes Agar, Harry Conway and the option to pick Liam Scott as an all-rounder, but they do need a specialist spinner. Unless they wanted to give Pope another chance....
Tasmania:
1. Tim Ward
2. Caleb Jewell
3. Matthew Wade (Charlie Wakim during the white-ball season)
4. Jordan Silk
5. Beau Webster
6. Jake Doran
7. Bradley Hope
8. Jarrod Freeman
9. Lawrence Neil-Smith
10. Gabe Bell
11. Billy Stanlake
Unlike every other side in the Shield, it's the bowling that's an issue. Stanlake (and Meredith) are too flaky, Bell and Neil-Smith are good medium pacers but might lack the cutting edge required for if the decks flatten out, and the others are too unproven or have gone down the circuit route full-time. Freeman struggles as a spinner too. One quality proper quick is required and they probably should upgrade their spinner.
Their batting depth seems a bit thin too especially if Wade decides to retire from FC cricket. As good as Wakim and Hope have gone their averages this year have been merely OK and I'm a bit skeptical of their long-term longetivity, whereas Ward and Jewell have both had poor seasons. That said, it's far from the worst Top 7 at Shield level.
Victoria:
1. Marcus Harris
2. Nic Maddinson
3. Ashley Chandrasinghe
4. Peter Handscomb
5. Matthew Short
6. Campbell Kellaway
7. Sam Harper
8. Will Sutherland
9. Fergus O'Neill
10. Todd Murphy
11. Scott Boland
Looks pretty well balanced, although the likelihood of a forced retirement for Pucovski does hurt their top order especially if Maddinson leaves which has been rumoured. Chandrasinghe I think deserves a recall, but if there's no Maddinson they do need another Top 3 batsman. I think Kellaway should move down the order and Dean needs to be moved on from. Maybe they try and turn Short into a top order batsman?
Lots of bowling depth although there's a question of who covers for Murphy if he's on national duty. I guess Warren's a decent enough depth spinner.
Western Australia:
1. Cameron Bancroft
2. Sam Whiteman
3. Jayden Goodwin
4. Aaron Hardie
5. Hilton Cartwright
6. Ashton Turner/Teague Wyllie
7. Josh Inglis (Josh Phillippe during the white-ball season)
8. Joel Paris
9. Corey Rocchiccioli
10. Jhye Richardson
11. Lance Morris
Still a pretty stacked team, but I do wonder if they need a bit more depth. The likes of Bancroft, Inglis, Hardie, Richardson and Morris are on the outside looking in for some international formats and then you've got Richardson's and Paris's injury history. Kelly is good depth (though has gone completely MIA this season), but I'm less convinced on Haskett, Stobo or Gannon so maybe there's an argument to bring in another bowler? Then there's also the question of who covers for Inglis if Phillippe leaves as sounds likely. Joel Curtis has had a good Grade cricket season but do WA think they need a second keeper that's better?
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For all sides I've ignored the regular Test and ODI players, though I could see some of the bats starting the season maybe? It sounds like Green and Marnus won't play the Pakistan series at least...