Sam Elliott is in, Mitchell Perry is out – and, yes, everyone in the Victorian camp knows how rough that sounds on a bloke who has bowled so well all season. Still, when the Sheffield Shield final against South Australia starts at the Junction Oval on Thursday, it will be Elliott sharing the new ball rather than Perry.
The call, confirmed on Wednesday afternoon, came down to a straight-up numbers question after Fergus O’Neill returned from a one-match rest. Both right-armers have been superb: Perry finished with 32 wickets at 21.75, Elliott with 33 at 17.18. Their runs were almost identical. In the end Victoria’s coach Chris Rogers admitted it was as tight a selection as he can remember.
“Both players thoroughly deserve to be playing,” Rogers said on Wednesday. “It was a real 50-50, and in the end we probably rewarded the guy who just had the better season. And it’s as simple as that. It’s a tough one. I spoke to a lot of people, and no one could really give me a compelling case either way. Our analyst could provide reasons both ways.
“It’s unfortunate for Mitch, but he took it well and hopefully it inspires him to go on to bigger and better things.”
South Australia, the holders, have their own puzzle. The Junction Oval surface took more spin than expected during last week’s dress rehearsal, so captain Nathan McSweeney is tempted to slip leg-spinner Lloyd Pope in alongside off-spinner Ben Manenti. Dropping a seamer would be the price.
“I think it actually spun a lot more than what we thought last week,” McSweeney said. “I even got a couple to spin, which was interesting. Lloyd took another five-for in the second XI, the last hit out he played. So it definitely does come into your thinking. We’ll obviously make a final decision this afternoon after looking at the wicket. But whatever team we roll out, I’m sure will be the right one.”
For the moment both sides are reading pitch maps rather than weather charts, yet the forecast keeps creeping into conversation. Melbourne produced a sharp shower on Tuesday, more was tipped for Wednesday night, and there’s a solid chance of rain on the first three days. Because the Shield final runs over five days, there is scope to make up time, though bonus points could become decisive if the match drifts into a draw.
Rogers, who guided Victoria to their last Shield crown in 2019, has politely nudged the ground staff toward something with a bit more zip.
“We’d like it to be a little bit quicker than it was last game, probably just a little bit more in it to support our attack,” he said. “We probably like the ball reacting off the surface a bit more. Hopefully there’s a little bit more grass on it and it’s a good challenge for both bat and ball.”
That request is hardly surprising. With Scott Boland on national duty, Victoria rely on bounce and movement from O’Neill, Elliott and Will Sutherland, plus Todd Murphy’s bounce-through-the-gate off spin. A greener strip also keeps bonus-point calculations simpler: take wickets early, bank the points, avoid the weather lottery.
South Australia’s seam quartet of Brendan Doggett, Jordan Buckingham, Nathan McAndrew and Liam Scott have shown they can prosper on any surface, but extra grass might still shift the Pope-or-no-Pope debate. Play a second spinner, and the Redbacks risk being a bowler short if heavy cloud lingers. Leave him out, and they may miss a fourth-day route if the track does deteriorate late. It’s catch-22 territory and McSweeney sounded ready for a final look before committing.
From a batting standpoint both teams feel set. Peter Handscomb’s late-season form gives Victoria stability underneath Marcus Harris, while South Australia lean on Jake Fraser-McGurk’s aggression and the glue of Henry Hunt. Alex Carey drops back from Test duty and, even though he was keen to play things down on media day, his presence is a psychological plus for the visitors.
Neither line-up needs extra motivation, but the history books provide it anyway. Victoria are chasing a first title since 2019; South Australia have not retained the Shield in consecutive seasons. The Junction Oval has hosted two Shield finals already, both finishing inside four days, yet with a soggy forecast the ground could throw up something different altogether.
Shield finals are funny things. Strategy meetings, weather apps, gut feelings – they all matter until the first nick carries or falls short. For now Sam Elliott is the headline for Victoria, Lloyd Pope the question mark for South Australia, and the Bureau of Meteorology the only guaranteed winner if the rain rolls through. Either way, the Sheffield Shield will have a new chapter by next week; the trick for both sides is making sure they’re the ones writing it.
