Sweet home Adelaide: SA return for rare one-dayer

More than six and a half years since South Australia last hosted a domestic one-day match, the Redbacks return to play in front of their home fans on Sunday as the Marsh Cup enters the second block of fixtures.

It was February 17, 2013, when SA last hosted domestic 50-over cricket, facing the NSW Blues at Adelaide Oval in a match they lost by 18 runs thanks to a whirlwind century from Brad Haddin.

Image Id: 3AC5D252754448EE8E861465254450B8 Image Caption: Haddin hit a match-winning century in SA's last home one-dayer // Getty

South Australia's in-form batsman Tom Cooper joked Lloyd Pope, the flame-haired teenage leg-spinner who made his debut in their last start, "probably wasn't even born" the last time they were in front of a home crowd.

Five Redbacks from that game are still involved and could feature on Sunday, including Cooper. The others are wicketkeeper Alex Carey – who debuted as a specialist batsman in that 2013 fixture – now captain Travis Head, bowler Joe Mennie, and batsman Alex Ross.

There was a sixth player from that match who is set to feature for South Australia on Sunday: a 20-year-old blond leg-spinner lined-up for the NSW Blues named Adam Zampa.

The Redbacks meet Tasmania at Karen Rolton Oval on Sunday – with free live streaming on cricket.com.au and the CA Live app – hoping to secure a second win against a struggling, winless Tasmanian outfit.

"I know most of the players are enjoying that the competition is spread out a little bit more," Cooper said.

"To be back playing in Adelaide is very exciting. Not many blokes can remember the last time we played a one-dayer here, it was a very long time ago."

The Redbacks will be hoping home comforts bring an improved display from their batting unit, with Cooper's twin unbeaten fifties against Queensland and NSW in Brisbane the only returns of note.

"Personally it's been a nice start, but it would have been nice to come away with two wins," Cooper said today.

"It's been a good pre-season, but it has been for everyone. All the boys went into these two games in really good form, everyone was smacking them in the practice games, so it's a bit frustrating to not put two good performances on the board.

"Everyone was pretty flat that we didn't play very well at all in the first one (a seven-wicket defeat to Queensland).

"To come back out a couple of days later, the bowlers started it off for us to set the tone and walk away with a bonus-point win (against NSW) was very nice.

"The way the boys have been going through the pre-season, and if you look at our list, and we add Travis Head into that, I think we can compete with anyone," Cooper said of their returning Ashes batsman and state captain.

The Redbacks deployed two leg-spinners in Zampa and Pope against the Blues, and Cooper said it was a pairing the state wouldn't be shy to deploy in future.

"We all know how good Zamps is, and he's been doing it for years. Popey is a star of the future," he continued.

"He came in and did a really good job in difficult circumstances because they went hard at him early. I wouldn't be surprised if we did (play both leg-spinners) again.

"If conditions present themselves, it's a call the selectors will make, but the exciting thing is we've got two world class leg-spinners at our disposal.

Of Pope, who has attracted cult-hero status ever since blitzing England for eight wickets at the Under 19 World Cup in 2018, Cooper added: "He's not short of confidence.

"As Zamps said when presenting him his cap, 'to be a leg-spinner you are a different cat anyway', so I think he's taken it all in his stride and so far he's handled it all quite well."