Andrew McGlashanFeb 20, 2026, 04:55 PM

CloseDeputy Editor Andrew arrived at ESPNcricinfo via Manchester and Cape Town, after finding the assistant editor at a weak moment as he watched England’s batting collapse in the Newlands Test. Andrew began his cricket writing as a freelance covering Lancashire during 2004 when they were relegated in the County Championship. In fact, they were top of the table when he began reporting on them but things went dramatically downhill. He likes to let people know that he is a supporter of county cricket, a fact his colleagues will testify to and bemoan in equal quantities.

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A desire to counter the sporting pitches that have frequented the Sheffield Shield has been behind Sam Harper‘s elevation to open for Victoria which produced stunning results against Western Australia where he made twin centuries.

Harper hammered 119 and 141 not out at the WACA which, along with the relentlessness of Victoria’s attack led by Scott Boland, has secured a home final in late March as the state hunts their first Shield title since 2018-19.

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“Sam Harper was absolutely magnificent and if he plays like that, we are an unbelievable team,” Victoria coach Chris Rogers said after the victory.

Harper, the wicketkeeper-batter who was named BBL player of the tournament last month, is a regular opener in white-ball cricket and had been elevated to the role for the first time in four-day cricket against Queensland in November where he made 85 at the Gabba.

He came in at No. 3 in the second innings of the following round against Western Australia during a run chase then was again elevated to open in the second innings against Queensland earlier this month where he raced to 19 off 11 balls.

In the first innings at the WACA, on one of the better batting surfaces of the season, he raced out of the blocks and surged to his century off 76 balls to give Victoria a position of strength they never relinquished. In the second, with the task to build on a huge lead, he batted at a more even tempo.

“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,” Rogers 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.

“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.

“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.”

More broadly on Victoria’s performance, Rogers could not recall anything better. “I think back to my time with the group … that was probably as good a performance as we’ve put in,” he said.

There are two more rounds of the regular season to go before the final, with Victoria traveling to Tasmania before hosting Western Australia, and there may be a balancing act between maintaining momentum and conserving players for the final.

Boland played his first match since the Ashes at the WACA and finished with match figures of 8 for 49 including 6 for 22 in the final.

“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.”

Matt Short, recently dropped from Australia’s T20 World Cup squad, is the one player who won’t be available for the final as he has an IPL deal with Chennai Super Kings.