WA preview: Powerhouse state gunning for historic four-peat

Quadruple double? Quad Squad? Awesome Foursomes? If there's no particularly catchy name for what Western Australia wants to achieve this season, it's because it has not been done before.

Adam Voges' men are already in the history books having achieved the Sheffield Shield-One-Day Cup title double three seasons on the trot.

The coming summer will see them aiming to become the first side to win the Shield four seasons in a row since it became a six-team competition in 1977-78.

They are also gunning for the one-day tournament's first ever four-peat, having taken out five of the last seven domestic 50-over crowns. This comes on top of the Perth Scorchers' dominance in the KFC BBL thanks to largely the same group of players.

WA’s golden era has not only seen them become domestic powerhouses, but also the standout state in terms of producing ready-made international cricketers.

Mahli Beardman is the latest to show he's on Australia's radar and is an outside chance of joining Cooper Connolly, Aaron Hardie and Lance Morris as recent international debutants.

Cameron Green and Josh Inglis, along with veteran Mitch Marsh, are more entrenched, while Jhye Richardson, Cameron Bancroft and Ashton Turner are all hopeful they can join them having each had a good taste of international cricket.

There is also bubbling optimism over the prospects of Corey Rocchiccioli after his record-breaking Shield campaign last season, while Joel Paris remains one of domestic cricket’s most reliable players and was on standby during last year’s Ashes in the UK.

WA's remarkable recent track record of producing and nurturing star white-ball players put them in an unusual situation of seeing four big-name players – Jason Behrendorff, Ashton Agar, Marcus Stoinis and Andrew Tye – not earn state contracts.

That’s despite the quartet, along with middle-order bat Nick Hobson, all expected to play for either WA or Australia over the coming months.

The state's only other major change is the departure of Josh Philippe, who has crossed to NSW. Philippe has effectively swapped places with Baxter Holt, the 24-year-old former Sydneysider who has picked up a WA contract and moved into the same street as white-ball captain Ashton Turner.

A victory over WA this season will be the biggest prize for every rival state this season. Good luck to them in the opening Shield rounds, when the reigning champions could have close to their entire squad available.

Western Australia 2023-24 men's squad: Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Cooper Connolly, Brody Couch, Keaton Critchell, Sam Fanning, Cameron Gannon, Cameron Green*, Aaron Hardie*, Jayden Goodwin, Liam Haskett, Baxter Holt, Josh Inglis*, Bryce Jackson, Matthew Kelly, Mitch Marsh*, Hamish McKenzie, Lance Morris*, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson*, Corey Rocchiccioli, D'Arcy Short, Charlie Stobo, Ashton Turner, Sam Whiteman, Teague Wyllie. Rookies: Mahli Beardman, Sam Greer, Josh Vernon, Corey Wasley

Ins: Brody Couch, Keaton Critchell, Baxter Holt, Corey Wasley

Outs: Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Josh Philippe (NSW), Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye

*Cricket Australia contract

Possible XIs

Potential XI for first One-Day Cup game (v NSW, Sep 22): Sam Fanning, D'Arcy Short, Cameron Bancroft (wk), Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Turner (c), Nick Hobson, Ashton Agar, Jhye Richardson, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Lance Morris

Sheffield Shield (at full strength): Sam Whiteman (c), Cameron Bancroft, Cameron Green, Mitch Marsh, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis (wk), Cooper Connolly, Joel Paris, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Lance Morris

Last season

Sheffield Shield: Champions

Marsh One-Day Cup: Champions

Inside word with one-day captain Ashton Turner

Preseason

"We're in the life cycle of a team where we've had some recent success, so it's about building on that. With that success comes a reasonably senior squad. We've got a self-driven team, a lot of guys who know what they need to do to prepare to perform at their best. But we've also got a nice sprinkling of youth, who have been really open to learning. For the older guys to continue to get challenged by some new faces is a nice contrast and I think it's only a good thing. But the priority is on playing well, performing and trying to win more trophies for Western Australia. We know our opposition is only going to improve so we know we need to be doing the same thing."

Young guns

"We saw a little bit of Mahli Beardman in the one-day cup (one game last season) – he's exciting and he's as fit as he's been for a number of years. Having watched him bowl, he's going from strength to strength. Hopefully we can see him play a bit more cricket at the domestic level. I look at a young batter like Corey Wasley, another one who's really exciting. We often see the big step up in the lives of young cricketers is the step from junior to senior cricket, and with that comes a lot of hurdles – mentally and technically. To see some of these guys progress and learn, it's exciting to see that transition."

Can you go back-to-back-to-back-to-back?

"To be in this caper you have to be naturally competitive – whether we're playing dominoes or professional cricket, we want to win. That makes having that competitive spirit every season easy. We've done some work within our leadership group about challenges we're going to face this year but also the opportunities. There haven't been many teams to win four Shields in a row and no-one's won the one-day cup four times (straight). That's been at the forefront of everyone's minds at the start of the season."

Player to watch

"He's taking all the headlines at the moment, but young Cooper Connolly has just made his debut for Australia, which probably surprised a few people but was less of a surprise to those that know him. We've seen him now perform in Big Bash finals and Shield finals. A lot of people have long careers and can't say they did either of those things. He's been able to do it (early) in his professional career, so there's a lot to like there and a lot to work with. He's proven himself at domestic level and we'll see him get a lot more opportunity with both red ball and white ball this season. He was listed to bat at No.9 for Australia so someone as versatile as that, who can bowl, field, bat, you can find ways to manufacture positions for them in any playing XI."

Availability

Liam Haskett (back stress fracture) and Shield captain Sam Whiteman (finger) are both on the mend from injuries, while the bowling loads of Richardson and Morris are expected to be carefully managed by CA. 

Australian white-ball players Inglis, Marsh, Green, Connolly and Beardman will miss WA's opening two one-dayers but ...

"By the time we assemble for the first round of Shield cricket, we're going to have a rare situation where I suspect everyone is going to be available," said Turner. "There might be some tough calls come round one – I'm glad that's not my job. But it's a great thing for Western Australian cricket to have so much competition for spots. As is modern cricket, that will probably last for a game or two before guys are off playing franchise cricket or international cricket. We've spoke a lot about the depth of our squad and as is always the case we rely on more players than we anticipate at the start of the season. We've got a big squad and we're going to lean on most of those guys at some stage."

Wicketkeeping situation

"Baxter (Holt) is another guy with a really different story to the rest of the guys in the squad. He's made a really big and courageous call to pack up his life and move to the other side of the country. His work ethic has been outstanding, he's been doing everything he can to prepare himself for the season. He's been doing extra wicketkeeping sessions on days off, so he's been really impressive. The expectation is he'll be keeping for us in Shield cricket when ‘Ingo’ (Inglis) is not available. In one-day cricket we've got a bit more versatility, whether that's Cameron Bancroft taking the gloves, which we've seen him do in all formats before, but Baxter’s an option for us across all formats."

T20 freelancers

"It's the modern game isn't it? Although we've had a lot of success in Shield cricket, I'd say a lot of our guys are predominantly white-ball cricketers and with that comes the temptation of franchise cricket. A lot of those guys are still around Australian squads. I think there's been really honest and robust communication both ways and for most of those guys I expect to see them in Western Australian colours this season. The contract status is more or less a technicality. We're less focused on the status of their contracts and more worried about their availability and commitment to Western Australian cricket. What it's actually allowed us to do is have more guys on contract … it means some of the young guys who may not otherwise have had the opportunity to be a full-time cricketer now do have that opportunity."