Hardie returns for WA's clash with rising Redbacks

Star Western Australia allrounder Aaron Hardie will return to the field in Wednesday's Marsh Sheffield Shield clash with South Australia as the reigning champions keep pace ace Jhye Richardson on ice for another week.

Hardie missed last week's trip to Sydney where WA lost both their Marsh Cup and Shield fixtures to NSW, after he suffered a quad strain in their previous clash with the Redbacks in Adelaide last month.

The 24-year-old made 99 in the second innings of that match and has been among the state's best performers so far this season with the third-most runs (229 at 57.25) behind openers Cameron Bancroft and Sam Whiteman and seven wickets from his three matches.

Head coach Adam Voges revealed following last week's 10-wicket loss to NSW that Hardie could have pushed to play but they "went the conservative route, knowing how much cricket (was) coming up".

Hardie – who made both his Australia T20I and ODI debuts in South Africa in September – could be in line for a spot in a strong Prime Minister's XI squad expected to be announced next week, although fellow WA allrounder Cameron Green said he also expected to play the match as he pushes to reclaim his spot in the Test side for the home summer.

While Hardie returns for the clash with the second-placed Redbacks, hard-hitting batter Ashton Turner has been ruled out as he manages soreness in his right knee and last week's debutant Hamish McKenzie has been omitted.  

Meanwhile, Richardson continues his recovery after dislocating his right shoulder while fielding in a Second XI fixture, but Voges remains hopeful the speedster will be available for their final Shield match before the KFC BBL|13 break.

"He's training strongly at the moment," he said. "My absolute hope is that we get him for one of these last two Shield games."

WA squad v SA: Sam Whiteman (c), Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Jayden Goodwin, Aaron Hardie, Liam Haskett, Lance Morris, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Charlie Stobo, Teague Wyllie

South Australia have added allrounder Liam Scott to the group that claimed a thrilling three-run win over Queensland at the Gabba last week in what was the closest Sheffield Shield match in two decades.

After beating the Bulls, the Redbacks are aiming for consecutive away wins in the Shield for the first time since October 2016.

SA squad v WA: Jake Lehmann (c), Nathan McSweeney, Jordan Buckingham, Jake Carder, Harry Conway, Brendan Doggett, Daniel Drew, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Henry Hunt, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Harry Nielsen (wk), Liam Scott  

Sheffield Shield 2023-24 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Western Australia Men WA	10	5	2	3	0	0	5.53	9.4	47.93
2 Tasmanian Tigers Men TAS	10	5	2	3	0	0	6.06	8.3	47.36
3 NSW Men NSW	10	4	3	3	0	0	6.31	9	42.31
4 Victoria Men VIC	10	4	4	2	0	0	4.74	8.2	38.94
5 South Australia Men SA	10	3	6	1	0	0	5.19	9.3	33.49
6 Queensland Bulls QLD	10	2	6	2	0	0	3.54	8.3	25.84

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points