{"id":574954,"date":"2026-03-30T21:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/574954\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T21:30:12","slug":"sheffield-shield-final-south-australia-defeats-victoria-to-expose-problem-with-new-south-wales-players-leaving-state-analysis-video-highlights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/574954\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheffield Shield final, South Australia defeats Victoria to expose problem with New South Wales players leaving state, analysis, video, highlights"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New South Wales cricket\u2019s failure to retain talent has once again been thrust into the spotlight after South Australia successfully defended its Sheffield Shield title to become back-to-back champions.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/cricket\/sheffield-shield-final-2026-cricket-results-victoria-vs-south-australia-updates-live-stream-how-to-watch-video-highlights\/news-story\/90fcfb6901854dd01ec97b8afc703b67\" title=\"www.foxsports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">The South Australians sealed a remarkable comeback victory<\/a> in the topsy-turvy Sheffield Shield final after rolling Victoria for 139 at Junction Oval on Monday, winning consecutive titles for the first time in the state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>Watch Live &amp; Free coverage of the 2026 Marsh Sheffield Shield with Kayo Freebies | <a href=\"https:\/\/kayosports.com.au\/en-AU\/competition\/Competition:6thd74h9oa0pm8qx15hhzfrq6?pg=cricket&amp;extcamp=fsaeditoriallinkcricket-edt-fsp-lnk-awr-grc-cri-kyo&amp;channel=fsa&amp;campaign=fsacontra&amp;voucher=\" title=\"kayosports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Register free now &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img class=\"i-amphtml-fill-content i-amphtml-replaced-content\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Fast bowlers Nathan McAndrew, Liam Scott and Henry Thornton did the bulk of the damage in the fourth innings, each taking three wickets as Victoria suffered a dreadful collapse of 7-37.<\/p>\n<p>The trio started their respective careers in Sydney grade cricket before migrating to South Australia, along with teammates Jason Sangha, Ben Manenti and Henry Hunt.<\/p>\n<p>And it didn\u2019t go unnoticed that more than half of the triumphant Sheffield Shield side was comprised of players that New South Wales let slip through its fingers.<\/p>\n<p>NSW Products in South Australia\u2019s Sheffield Shield XI<\/p>\n<p>Ben Manenti \u2014 Sydney Cricket Club<\/p>\n<p>Nathan McAndrew \u2014 Bankstown District Cricket Club<\/p>\n<p>Henry Hunt \u2014 Eastern Suburbs<\/p>\n<p>Jason Sangha \u2014 Randwick Petersham <\/p>\n<p>Liam Scott \u2014 Sydney Cricket Club<\/p>\n<p>Henry Thornton \u2014 Randwick Petersham, Eastern Suburbs<\/p>\n<p>South Australia&#8217;s players celebrate. Photo by William WEST \/ AFPSource: AFP<\/p>\n<p>The Blues were once the Sheffield Shield\u2019s perennial powerhouse with a record 47 titles, the most recent coming in 2020 when the final was abandoned due to Covid-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n<p>However, New South Wales has not qualified for a Sheffield Shield decider in five years and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/cricket\/from-perennial-powerhouse-to-wooden-spooners-how-new-south-wales-sunk-to-84year-sheffield-shield-low\/news-story\/501ae200e6f7335bae1c7111fad42ad4\" title=\"www.foxsports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">failed to register a victory in the 2022\/23 season<\/a>, during which coach Phil Jaques was <\/p>\n<p>sacked. At one stage, the Blues went 15 consecutive matches without registering a win, an unwanted state record.<\/p>\n<p>Jaques\u2019 replacement, veteran coach Greg Shipperd, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com.au\/cricket\/its-been-a-challenging-period-inside-nsw-crickets-difficult-coaching-cleanout\/news-story\/1b1be03256999e7335b38c24a684bf3b\" title=\"www.foxsports.com.au\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">was stood down earlier this month<\/a> despite helping the NSW win a One-Day Cup title, replaced by former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin.<\/p>\n<p>Identifying the right players to pursue has proven a challenge for the Blues, with Cricket NSW at times accused of prioritising young players from their elite pathways rather than established grade cricketers. A few years ago, former Blues fast bowler Stuart Clark accused Cricket NSW of being \u201cfascinated with picking 19-year-olds and not those who have earned the right to play\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Should DRS be used in Shield Final? | 00:35<\/p>\n<p>McAndrew made his Blues debut in 2019 before migrating to South Australia in 2021. No cricketer has taken more Sheffield Shield wickets than him since the switch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I was at grade cricket level, aspiring to play for New South Wales, I put so much pressure on myself that every performance,\u201d McAndrew said on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had to take a five-for every week because then maybe I\u2019d get an opportunity or get on contract.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re just always looking to that next level and ignoring the process, ignoring the day-to-day battles you\u2019ve got to win.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McAndrew and Sangha headline a cluster of former Blues players who jumped ship and travelled interstate to pursue other opportunities, along with Queensland\u2019s Hayden Kerr and Victoria\u2019s Blake MacDonald. Tasmania seamer Nathan Ellis, who has become a regular member of Australia\u2019s white-ball teams, also started his career in Sydney.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple of New South Wales\u2019 best players have been unavailable for state cricket due to international commitments, including Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Adam Zampa.<\/p>\n<p>However, of the 24 Australian cricketers who have made their men\u2019s Test debut since the start of 2017, only two were Blues players \u2014 Kurtis Patterson and Sam Konstas.<\/p>\n<p>Sean Abbott of New South Wales. Photo by Matt King\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to reporters earlier this month, Haddin declared that one of his primary objectives as NSW coach would be preparing Australia\u2019s next generation of cricket stars for the international stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m under no illusions that I\u2019ve got to start to produce some Australian players,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the key things, I think from my point of view, I\u2019ve got to start to find some players ready to play for Australia.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s going to be retirements over the next few years and we need the next guys stepping up to be NSW players.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to tap into some of this talent and make sure that that\u2019s the goal for everyone.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy goal is to get as many players as I can playing for Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He continued: \u201cI think the one thing we\u2019ve always done here at New South Wales is we hold high standards. We expect a lot from not only our staff and our organisation but our players as well. I\u2019m going to be no different with that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m going to expect a lot from this group.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New South Wales cricket\u2019s failure to retain talent has once again been thrust into the spotlight after South&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44,85],"class_list":["post-574954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}