ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2015

Australia in 2014/15 The 2014/15 season in Australia was dominated by the tragic accident in the Sheffield Shield game at Sydney on 25 November, when the popular South Australian and Test opener Phillip Hughes was struck on the side of the neck by a delivery from the blameless Sean Abbott (NSW); he succumbed to his injuries two days later. The contemporary round of Shield matches was abandoned, and the upcoming Test series against India rescheduled, as the nation and its cricketers entered a lengthy period of mourning, and a perhaps rather shorter period of introspection concerning the spirit in which the game should be played. A month earlier the Australian Test side had been beaten by large margins in both Tests in a series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, where as usual spin bowling – not Australia’s greatest strength in recent years – dominated. Two weeks after Hughes’s accident they returned to Test cricket in a home four-match series against India which they won 2-0, considerably aided by the batting of Steven Smith who scored 769 runs in the series at an average of 128.16. March 2015 saw Australia gain deserved success in the 11th ICC World Cup, played at home and in New Zealand. Three months later the national side secured a comfortable 2-0 win in a Test series in the West Indies, and then it was on to England for the Ashes series in which injuries and age finally caught up with several of their players, and an unexpected 3-2 defeat resulted. Despite their ups and downs in Test series, Australia held on to second place in the ICC Test rankings throughout the period under review, never really threatening the lead of South Africa, but never in turn being threatened by the ever-changing roll of teams in third place. A new points system was adopted for the 2014/15 Sheffield Shield, with bonus points for batting and bowling instead of points for first-innings lead in lost or drawn games. After finishing top of the league table, Victoria won the Shield for the first time since 2009/10, batting dourly for a draw in the fourth innings of the final to ensure that their opponents Western Australia did not take the title at the last. The final was played on a neutral ground in Tasmania because of a clash of dates at the MCG with the impending World Cup Final. Leading runscorer of the first-class season was 35-year-old Adam Voges (Western Australia), whose outstanding form – 1358 runs at an average of 104.46 – earned him a Test call-up for the series in the Caribbean and England. His team-mate Michael Klinger was the only other batsman to exceed 1000 runs in the season. Leading the wicket-takers was Pakistan-born leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed (Victoria) with 48 wickets at 24.35; like Voges he went on the tours to the West Indies and England, but he was unable to claim a Test place. (KSW) Sheffield Shield 2014/15: Final table P W L D BatBP BowlBP Adj Pts 6 0 1 1 Victoria 10 6 3 1 9.43 11.5 -0.5 57.43 2 Western Australia 10 5 1 4 7.71 9 -0.87 49.84 3 New South Wales 10 5 3 2 6.76 8.5 0 47.26 4 Queensland 10 4 5 1 7.99 8 -1.5 39.49 5 Tasmania 10 2 6 2 4.28 9.5 -0.17 27.61 6 South Australia 10 2 6 2 7.91 3.5 0 25.41 The adjustments reflect the annulment of bonus points gained in matches called off because of the injury to P.J.Hughes on 25 November . FINAL: Victoria drew with Western Australia but won the Shield by virtue of leading at the league stage. 11