Showcase of emerging talent will be on view in men's domestic 50-over final despite format once again facing scrutiny
Generation Next carry the torch for one-dayers' future
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As former Australia Under-19 World Cup teammates Will Sutherland and Nathan McSweeney chatted at Adelaide Oval today, it wasn't just the freshly minted Dean Jones Trophy – sparkling in the sun on summer's last day – that spoke of a new era.
Tomorrow's final of Australia's rebadged domestic one-day competition might also qualify as a reunion of the squad for that 2018 under-age tournament with then skipper Jason Sangha and leg spinner Lloyd Pope part of McSweeney's South Australia outfit taking on Sutherland's Victoria.
But more significant is the broader showcase of emerging talent that will be on view in the day-night decider, which provides a welcome sign for the 50-over format whose future at a global level is once again facing scrutiny.
Among the other 'Generation Next' players aged 25 or under in squads for tomorrow's final are SA's Liam Scott (this week named One Day Cup Player of the Year), Mackenzie Harvey (tournament leading run scorer) and Jordan Buckingham, all aged 24.
Victoria's 13-man squad not only includes young guns Campbell Kellaway (22), Test-capped Todd Murphy and 2024 Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year Fergus O'Neill (both 24) and emerging allrounder Sam Elliott (25), but batting prodigies Harry Dixon (20) and Ollie Peake (18).
The only members of SA's outfit aged beyond 30 are Jake Lehmann (32), Nathan McAndrew (31) and Brendan Doggett (30), while Victoria have card-carrying veterans Peter Siddle (40), Scott Boland (35), Peter Handscomb (33) and Marcus Harris (32).
"There's a lot of youth coming through and a lot of guys who would have played together in pathways," Sutherland said today, with Victoria aiming for their first domestic one-day title since 2018-19 and SA looking to end a 13-year drought.
"So it's probably just an exciting game for Australian cricket in general with the amount of talent that's coming through.
"And I'm sure there will be a bit of banter, with the relationships that have been formed over the years, in tomorrow's game."
Sutherland also pointed out that he and his fellow 'youngsters' retain a passion for the increasingly unfashionable one-day game because that's the format they played most regularly at interstate and international level as juniors.
That show of support comes against the backdrop of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy ODI tournament in Pakistan and the UAE that has again seen the significance of 50-over cricket questioned.
Some have pointed to the diminishing presence of 50-over games in the UK, where domestic T20 and now The Hundred increasingly take precedence, as a reason for the sharp decline in the form of 2019 ODI World Cup champions, England.
Others have wondered as to the relevance of another ODI event shoe-horned, as it has been, between the end of southern hemisphere international seasons and the start of the monolithic Indian Premier League.
However, Sutherland – who played two ODIs for Australia last summer – believes the 50-over game maintains strong appeal for his peers largely because it fuses the starkly contrasting skills sets needed for red-ball and 20-over cricket.
"We love it, I played a lot of it coming through the pathways stuff (where) it's sort of the main format so it's still a favourite format of mine," the Victoria captain said.
"The way it's going, the scores are getting higher and higher and it probably gets closer to T20 each year.
"There's a lot of transferable skills and I think it's a good test where you've got to find that hybrid between red-ball and T20 cricket.
"It's finding the right time to pull the trigger, and there's a lot of similarities between Big Bash as well so it's just a really good test of your cricket skills.
"It can probably catch a few people out (erring too heavily on the frantic T20 side), but some of the scores are getting close to 400 these days as well."
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McSweeney felt a taste of that T20-infused mania in SA's final regular-season Cup game against Tasmania last weekend, when BBL hero Mitchell Owen clubbed 149 from 69 balls as his team chased down SA's target of 330 with an over to spare.
That was a day game at Adelaide Oval, when batting can be trickiest in the morning session before the pitch flattens out during the afternoon.
As a result, McSweeney doesn't believe the coin toss in tomorrow's day-night fixture starting at 2.05pm Adelaide time will be quite so significant in the final's outcome.
But the first-year full-time skipper also learned quickly how devastating a T20 hitter like Owen can be if he gets going in the longer white-ball format, and will be wiser should history look like repeating tomorrow.
"It's tough work, especially in one-day cricket," McSweeney said of trying to quell a batter capable of such pure ball striking.
"In T20 cricket you've got that extra guy out (beyond the fielding circle), and often when you play one-day games they're on one side of the wicket block and you've got a short boundary to contend with.
"He (Owen) is an amazing player and we've seen that throughout the Big Bash, so definitely some learnings to take from that and hopefully the ball's not flying around as much tomorrow.
"But if it does, we'll be better for it."
Just as Sutherland has his trusted counsel of senior teammates, McSweeney too can turn to some older heads – and a couple of experienced contemporaries – in the heat of battle.
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"I'm very lucky out there, I've got Jake Lehmann who has captained the state before, Ben Manenti's done a little bit this year, and Jason Sangha captained in the Big Bash," he said.
"So just bouncing ideas off everyone at some point, and mainly the bowler's got to be comfortable with what field he wants to bowl with.
"This year, I think the positive thing about our side is everyone's stood up at certain points.
"If we've made 150 we've been able to defend it, and we've been able to make big scores as well.
"We haven't quite perfected the perfect game yet so hopefully it's to come tomorrow."
With so many young players involved in tomorrow's decider – and given Western Australia have dominated of late, winning four of the past five One Day Cup finals – both SA and Victoria enter their quest for long-sought silverware with little prior play-off experience.
But Sutherland believes his men can be considered underdogs due to SA's form throughout the regular season that saw them finish top of the table, and the fact Victoria were sitting fourth when last weekend's ultimate minor round games began.
And even though SA's wait for a men's domestic trophy stretches back to their most recent one-day title in 2011-12, the prospect of becoming the first to hold a trophy bearing the name of Victoria legend Jones also provides powerful incentive for the visitors.
Despite appearing in five grand finals throughout his 16-year domestic one-day career, Jones's only triumph came against SA at the MCG in 1995.
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"It would mean a lot to me in particular," said Sutherland whose father, James, played the last of his six One Day Cup games for Victoria alongside Jones against SA at Adelaide Oval in 1993.
"I've played in a couple of (Sheffield) Shield finals and lost them both, so the fire's definitely burning.
"I know how it feels to be on the other end of domestic cricket finals … and Victorian cricket hasn't had heaps of one-day success, so we're very eager to give it a good crack tomorrow and be holding the trophy."
One-Day Cup standings 2024-25
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | Bat | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
SA
|
7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0.25 | 0 | 3 | 21 |
|
2
VIC
|
7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -0.162 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
|
3
NSW
|
7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.099 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
|
4
QLD
|
7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.244 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
|
5
TAS
|
7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0.134 | 0 | 1 | 15 |
|
6
WA
|
7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.481 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
PTS: Total points