In-form quick Mitch Perry has been brutally axed from Victoria’s XI for the Sheffield Shield cricket final against South Australia, despite a superb season for his table-topping state in the red-ball competition. Victoria coach Chris Rogers says it was an extremely difficult decision to overlook Perry, who was edged out by fellow quick Sam Elliott for the fifth spot in a strong bowling attack, led by Test seamer Scott Boland.
Elliot – who is the son of Aussie cricket great and former Test opener Matthew – has also been superb for the Vics. He’s taken 33 wickets compared to Elliott’s 32 this season to leave the Victoria quicks sitting joint-fourth and sixth in the competition standings. It highlights just how little there is to split between the pair.
Victoria quick Mitch Perry (R) has been brutally dropped for the Sheffield Shield final, with fellow paceman Sam Elliott (L, centre) named instead. Pic: Getty
Perry’s 32 wickets at 21.75 saw him finish runner-up in the umpire-voted Shield player-of-the-year honours. He finished just one vote shy of South Australia all-rounder Liam Scott, who claimed the top gong after finishing the regular season with 496 runs and 23 wickets from nine matches to help his state qualify for the final.
Victoria coach Chris Rogers says Perry took his axing well but it didn’t make the “50-50” call any easier. “It was one of the hardest conversations, both players thoroughly deserving … but you can’t fit 12 into 11,” Rogers said.
“He took it well and hopefully it inspires him to go onto bigger and better things. “I spoke to a lot of people and nobody could really give me a compelling case either way. Analysts could provide reasons both ways. In the end it came down to almost a 50-50 (call).”
Mitch Perry was dropped from the Victoria XI for the Sheffield Shield final despite being voted the second-best player in the competition this season. Pic: Getty
(Steve Bell via Getty Images)
Elliott – who has 33 wickets at 17.18 this season – joins a formidable Victorian bowling attack that includes Boland, Fergus O’Neill, captain Will Sutherland and spinner Todd Murphy. The Vics are hosting South Australia in the Shield final at Junction Oval from Thursday after finishing the season with seven wins – three more than the Redbacks.
Australia stars missing from both sides for Shield decider
Victoria will be without batting all-rounder Matt Short in the Shield decider due to IPL duties. Aussie Test opener Travis Head is also missing for South Australia as he prepares for another IPL season with Sunrisers Hyderabad in India.
Test quick Brendan Doggett (hamstring) has also been ruled out in a major blow for South Australia. Doggett was named player-of-the-match after taking 11 wickets against Queensland in last year’s decider to help the South Australia clinch the title.
Paceman Wes Agar has returned to the SA squad from injury, while Lloyd Pope is also back and gives the defending champions the option to field two spinners. South Australia aiming to claim back-to-back Shield titles for the first time in the state’s history.
with AAP