Pucovski bats all day again to surge into Test contention

Will Pucovski's proverbial kicking down of the national selection door turned into a fully-fledged roundhouse assault as he closed in on a second consecutive double century to begin the Marsh Sheffield Shield season.

As incumbent Test opener Joe Burns failed to pass 30 for a fourth straight innings to begin the first-class summer, Pucovski added to his credentials against the new ball as he blazed an unbeaten 183 on the opening day of Victoria's clash with Western Australia at Karen Rolton Oval.

The 22-year-old was only promoted from his regular No.3 berth to the opening position at the beginning of the season but has now plundered 438 runs from the top of the order without being dismissed after his unbeaten 255 against South Australia last weekend.

Should he pass 200 on Monday, Pucovski will become the first batter this century to make consecutive double-hundreds in the Sheffield Shield. Tasmanian Dene Hills was the last man to achieve the feat during the 1997-98 season.

Pucovski's remarkable start to life opening the batting with Marcus Harris also continued as the pair, fresh off breaking the competition's all-time partnership record with a monster stand of 486 against SA, helped put on 186 for the first wicket against WA on Sunday.

Harris had made 239 against the Redbacks but had to settle for 71 here after falling victim to a superb catch from Sam Whiteman that proved WA's only wicket on a rough day in the field, with the Vics finishing on 1-322 as captain Peter Handscomb (49 not out) went to stumps unbeaten with Pucovski.

Handscomb, who revealed he would have also bowled first had the toss fell his way, has spent considerable time watching the Harris-Pucovski partnership as Victoria's No.3 and suggested both are ready for Test level.

"I reckon I've been sitting down for about six sessions in two games just waiting to bat, but I'm never going to tire of watching both Will and ‘Harry’ out there," said Handscomb.

"To come off a mammoth partnership last week and back that up with an almost 200-run partnership is huge. Huge for the team, huge for their confidence.

"Both of them are playing beautiful shots, they're timing it nicely. It wasn't an easy wicket to time the ball on but both of them were able to find gaps in the field and get the ball to the boundary.

"I think both of them are pushing their (Test) cases. It wasn't that long ago that Harry was opening the batting for Australia in tough conditions against two of the best bowlers in the world in (Jofra) Archer and (Stuart) Broad (during last year’s Ashes).

"And 'Puc' in two hits opening the batting has taken to it nicely. If both of them get an opportunity at some stage it'd be awesome and they both seem as if they're ready to go."

Burns has a reasonable claim to the Australian opening spot having scored 256 runs at 32 in five Test victories last summer, including a 97 against Pakistan, but has been dropped in unfortunate circumstances on multiple occasions before.

Selectors pulled the pin on another incumbent Test opener from Queensland ahead of the 2017-18 Ashes in similar circumstances; Matthew Renshaw made an indifferent start to the 2017-18 Shield season and was overlooked for the first Test for the in-form Cameron Bancroft.

But the fact the current Test XI is more settled than it was three years ago, with the bulk of the team remaining the same since the end of last year's away Ashes series, makes any change to the top order more difficult.

"I want it to be settled. There's an old saying that it's harder to get out of the Test team than into the Test team - that's how it should be," coach and selector Justin Langer told SEN Radio last month.

"It means you have a team that's performing well, individuals are performing well. But that said, that only happened because there used to be cut-throat competition to get into the Australian cricket team.

"That's what I want and I've said it from day one. I want players knocking so hard on the door that you can't ignore them and therefore, what that creates, the guys in the team, gee they've got to stay on their toes.

Pucovski should have been out on 105 when D'Arcy Short dropped him at point, but was otherwise in total command. He was particularly severe off the back foot, pulling and hooking off his nose with little hesitation and no hint that short-pitched bowling could be an effective line of attack for bowlers aware of his previous concussion issues.

A flick for four through mid-wicket off a Cameron Gannon outswinger angling well past off stump followed by an emphatic back-punched boundary in the day's final hour against the second new ball illustrated the right-hander's supreme confidence.

WA were left to rue missing chances off all three of Pucovski (admittedly only once he had reached his sixth first-class ton), Harris and Handscomb.

The absence of Ashton Agar (who has gone home to Perth in a pre-arranged plan to refresh ahead of the KFC BBL) Joel Paris (hamstring injury) as well as the overs restrictions on star allrounder Cameron Green also proved telling.

On a crystal clear 26-degree morning, Shaun Marsh was looking down and not up when he elected to bowl first on a pitch even greener in appearance than the one NSW would be bowled out for 64 on only a few hundred metres away at Gladys Elphick Park.

But it soon became clear the opening day's narrative would more closely resemble Victoria's last game than what was going on nearby, as another Harris-Pucovski bat-a-thon commenced.

Frequent shouts of celebration from Tasmania's bowlers from the other Shield game aside, the only sounds to puncture the warm morning air were those coming from the middle of the Victorian openers' bats.

Harris dispatched his first two balls to the boundary off Matt Kelly and Pucovski hit 10 off Aaron Hardie's first over as WA struggled to control the new ball.

The ever-impressive Green (0-15 off eight overs) was the exception and his teammates were astounded that a low catch to Whiteman at third slip he induced off Harris in his first over was not given out, with umpires suggesting the ball had bounced.

Green could have had Harris again had another edge not narrowly eluded the leaping Cameron Bancroft at second slip.

The sight of speedster Lance Morris limping off with an ankle sprain before lunch only added to their woes as Pucovksi took the initiative by spanking 42 off the 34 deliveries he faced immediately after the break.

Morris was able to resume bowling but was expensive, with WA instead turning to recalled allrounder Hilton Cartwright and Short's left-arm wrist spin while the frontline quicks took a breather.

Pucovski once again lifted off his helmet as he brought up triple-figures off 161 balls and Harris looked destined to again join him, but Whiteman intervened, soaring for a superb one-handed catch at cover off a leading edge.

Pucovski should have walked off two balls later as he popped one in the air towards point, but the looping trajectory of his cut shot perplexed Short. He threw one hand above his head, only for the ball to bounce off in a crucial missed chance.

Gannon was delirious with disbelief when a loud lbw shout against Pucovski, this time on 116, was turned down with a delivery that veered towards his pads.

WA's miserable day was compounded when Handscomb edged and Bancroft, again above his head at second slip, put down a more catchable chance than the earlier one off Harris.

But the misteps were otherwise few and far between for his partner Pucovski, who breezed past 150 (from 234 balls) in the final session as the pair laid the platform for another big first-innings tally.