Sam Harper opening the batting was never really on anyone’s 2026 bingo card, yet four rounds into the Sheffield Shield summer the move looks inspired. The wicket-keeper, until now a middle-order option in four-day cricket, is averaging 91.50 after a pair of sparkling hundreds against Western Australia at the WACA. His 119 and unbeaten 141, lashed out over three days on a surface offering occasional spite, helped secure Victoria a home final at the end of March.
“Sam Harper was absolutely magnificent and if he plays like that, we are an unbelievable team,” Victoria coach Chris Rogers said, almost matter-of-fact, after the 164-run win.
Why fix something that was not obviously broken? According to Rogers the decision was as much about coping with lively early-season pitches as it was about rewarding Harper’s white-ball success at the top.
“We feel with some of these pitches, I mean, they’re challenging at the top and you can stand there and try and fight your way through,” he explained. “But we kind of found in even in the last game against Queensland, the scoreboard didn’t go anywhere, and we just couldn’t shake their pressure.”
That Queensland match – Victoria clung on for a draw at the Gabba – convinced the coaching group that the batting order needed shaking. Harper, who had been filling the No.6 role, suddenly had an unfamiliar assignment.
“So just [felt] we needed something to change, but also we looked at some of the data that sat behind it and probably felt that we were not utilising the No. 6 position as well as we could, either, where Sam had been batting and whether if we change the order around, we might get a bit more out of that as well,” Rogers continued. “So there was a fair bit of detail that sat behind that decision. And in the end, you’re still at the lap of the players going out and performing, but he did it. He far exceeded our expectations.”
Harper’s first taste of opening in the longer format came in November at the Gabba, when he cruised to 85. The next round he slipped briefly to No.3 during a chase, then returned to the top in Brisbane earlier this month, smashing 19 off 11 balls to set the early tone. Those cameos hinted at something; the WACA confirmed it. His first-innings century arrived from just 76 deliveries, peppered with drives on the up and a handful of audacious ramps that would have looked more at home in the Big Bash. In the follow-up innings he dialled back the tempo, content to let Western Australia toil for breakthroughs that never came.
Rogers, never the type to overplay a moment, still struggled to find a precedent. “I think back to my time with the group … that was probably as good a performance as we’ve put in,” he admitted. The clean win, built around Harper’s runs and Scott Boland’s metronomic fast-medium, left Victoria two points clear on the table with Tasmania away and WA at home to come.
Boland, returning for his first match since the Ashes, looked noticeably sharper than he did in England. Match figures of 8 for 49, including 6 for 22 to end the game, underlined that point.
“Sammy Harper just said to me, he’s actually bowling better than he’s ever seen before, which is pretty incredible,” Rogers said. “So the fact that Scotty keeps getting better is great for us, but great for him as well. What a servant he’s been to Australian cricket and still a few years yet to come.”
Managing workloads looms large. Victoria have one eye on that final – their first shot at the Shield since the 2018-19 title – and another on not losing momentum. Bowling-coach Mick Lewis hinted privately that Boland might miss at least one of the remaining fixtures to freshen an ankle that stiffened late in Perth. The seam reserves are adequate but untested this season: Will Sutherland is fit again after a side strain, while young quick Fergus O’Neill has 18 wickets at 24 from four appearances.
On the batting side, Matt Short is the only confirmed absentee for the rest of the round-robin, having been recalled to national limited-overs duties after his brief omission from Australia’s T20 World Cup plans. That absence simplifies the top-six jigsaw, at least on paper. Travis Dean and Marcus Harris, both short of runs, keep their spots for now, although Peter Handscomb’s return from a thumb injury adds polite pressure.
So far the numbers back Rogers’ hunch. Victoria’s first-innings scoring rate has climbed from 2.8 runs per over last season to 3.4 this summer; opposition new-ball bowlers are being forced shorter, which in turn leaves a softer ball for middle-order stroke-makers. It is hardly a revolution, yet in domestic cricket marginal gains often count double.
Not everyone is sold. A former Test opener, asked off the record about Harper’s technique, wondered aloud how the right-hander will handle a swinging Dukes if he tours England in two winters time. Fair enough – Harper has played only five first-class innings at the top, and most have been on firm Australian decks. For now, though, the ploy is working and Victoria are winning. In a competition frequently decided by one inspired selection call, that is more than enough.
There is still the small matter of Tasmania in Hobart next week, where the ball is expected to nip under cloud. Another successful outing there and the March final in Melbourne will look a great deal closer, and Sam Harper’s name will be inked firmly, not pencilled, at the very top of Victoria’s team sheet.
