Hardie returns for WA's crunch 'semi-final' Shield clash

Western Australia have received a boost ahead of their sudden-death Marsh Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria with star allrounder Aaron Hardie cleared to return from a calf strain.

Spin-bowling allrounder Ashton Agar has also been included in WA's 14-player squad for final-round fixture beginning in Melbourne on Monday, while Victoria could gain Scott Boland who is a strong chance of being released from the Test squad in New Zealand.

National selectors are expected to confirm later today or tomorrow if Boland will be cleared to return home early from Christchurch, and given Michael Neser was named 12th man with Australia fielding an unchanged XI for the second Test, it appears likely.

Boland had been been named 12th man for Australia's previous three Tests, with Friday's second Test against the Black Caps the seventh consecutive Test match this summer for the big three of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

Prior to departing for New Zealand, the Victorian played two Shield matches following the Big Bash break, collecting three wickets in their win over South Australia and 3-47 and 5-41 against NSW before Sydney's weather thwarted Boland's efforts to bowl his state to victory on the final day.

Despite not playing a Test during the summer, the 34-year-old has been in outstanding form all season with 26 wickets at 16.50 from five matches, with his dot ball percentage (81.4 per cent of 1132 deliveries bowled) equal with teammate Fergus O’Neill (from 1547 balls bowled) for the best competition.

WA have only lost one of their past 10 Shield matches against Victoria (won five, drawn four), with the two sides building a fierce rivalry over the past two seasons where they've played off in the past two finals.

However, that won't be the case this season with Tasmania already locked away as one of the finalists following their 57-run victory over the Vics in Hobart last Monday.

Their opponents will be either WA or Victoria, with the winner of their clash at the Junction Oval to go through to the decider unless it ends in a draw and NSW beat Queensland and secure a truckload of first-innings bonus points.

But it's likely a draw would be enough for WA to progress given they hold a 2.55-point advantage over the Vics and a 6.34-point advantage over NSW heading into the last home-and-away game of the season.

Hardie returns for two-time reigning champions after missing their 146-run win over Queensland in the previous match and their Marsh One-Day Cup triumph over NSW due to a calf strain he picked up in the drawn Shield match against Tasmania last month.

WA squad v Victoria: Sam Whiteman (c), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Keaton Critchell, Cameron Gannon, Jayden Goodwin, Aaron Hardie, Liam Haskett, Josh Inglis, Joel Paris, Corey Rocchiccioli, D'Arcy Short, Charlie Stobo.

 

Ins: Ashton Agar, Aaron Hardie. Out: Teague Wyllie (omitted)

That injury also ruled Hardie out of being called up to Australia's T20 squad in New Zealand after he was initially in line to replace an injured Marcus Stoinis.

Agar has been included the squad as a secondary spin option alongside Corey Rocchiccioli should the Junction Oval surface present as similar to Western Australia's last match at the venue in October 2022, when Peter Handscomb hit an unbeaten 281 in high-scoring draw.

But the pitch has generally offered far more assistance to the fast bowlers this summer, who claimed 33 of the 37 wickets to fall in the Victoria-South Australia contest last month, and it's hard to imagine a change in conditions with the hosts needing a result to qualify for the final.

Agar claimed 2-35 in WA's Marsh Cup triumph last month. His last first-class match came in the third Test against India in January 2023, and he was picked ahead of Rocchiccioli for his previous Shield appearance for WA in December 2022.

But his red-ball form has dipped since, and he was sent home midway through Australia's tour of India last year with fellow left-arm finger spinner Matthew Kuhnemann preferred.

Rocchiccioli has also taken over as the state's No.1 red-ball spinner and is the leading slow bowler in the competition this season with 37 wickets at 30.21.

"I feel like we're playing a lot of games against Victoria where there's a lot on the line and I feel like I've done a lot of that in my career so far," Rocchiccioli said last Monday following their victory over Queensland.

"How good is it, you go into the last game of the year with everything on the line. It's up to us, hopefully we put our best foot forward and we can (finish) second and play in the Shield final again."

Teague Wyllie is the only omission from the WA squad that will travel to Melbourne on Saturday, with Hilton Cartwright overcoming a finger injury to retain his place.

Western Australia remain a mathematical chance of finishing first and hosting the final if Tasmania lose to South Australia and don't obtain 0.14 more first innings bonus points than WA.

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