ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2018

The very heavy defeats in the last two Tests in South Africa passed relatively unnoticed, though the margin of the defeat at Johannesburg (492 runs) was Australia’s worst by runs in any Test since 1934. The 3-1 series defeat meant that Australia temporarily slipped back to fourth in the rankings, behind rivals New Zealand, though other teams’ failings meant that they had regained third spot by the end of the period under review. Following the tragic death of Phillip Hughes in November 2014, many fine words were spoken and written in Australia about the need to play the game less aggressively. To many, it did not seem long before these words were forgotten, and belied by Australian actions on the pitch. ‘Sandpapergate’ produced just as much introspection in Australian cricket, and Australia now has a second chance to reinvent itself as a less confrontational, more likable team. The 2019 Ashes series will be a stern test of their willingness and ability to do so. Things were quieter on the domestic scene. Victoria had won the Sheffield Shield in each of the three previous seasons, but at the mid-season break in December 2017 they were lying last in the table, having lost one and drawn four of their five matches to that point. At the other end of the table, wins in their first three matches gave New South Wales the lead at the halfway stage. All changed when action resumed in February. New South Wales did not win another match after those first three, and ended fifth out of six in the table; while three wins in their last five games took Victoria up to third. But it was Queensland and Tasmania, with steady results in both halves of the season, who ended in the top two places, and with home advantage in the final Queensland – batting consistently throughout – secured a comfortable win to take the Shield for the first time since 2011/12, and the eighth time in all since their first, historic, win in 1994/95. The season’s leading runscorer was unsurprisingly Steve Smith, with 955 runs in eight matches, at an average of 86.81. In Shield matches alone, Matt Renshaw (Queensland) led the way with 804 runs at 44.66. Victoria’s Chris Tremain (right arm medium-pace) led the season’s wicket-takers with 51 wickets at 21.07, all of them in Shield matches. The season’s only matches outside the Shield and the Ashes Tests were two unremarkable warm-up games for the England XI against relatively inexperienced sides designated ‘Cricket Australia XI’; England won the first and the other was drawn. (KSW) Sheffield Shield 2017/18: Final table P W L D BatBP BowlBP Pts 6 0 1 1 Queensland 10 6 1 3 7.40 8.6 55.00 2 Tasmania 10 5 3 2 5.85 9.7 47.55 3 Victoria 10 3 2 5 8.11 8.8 39.91 4 Western Australia 10 3 5 2 8.19 8.9 37.09 5 New South Wales 10 3 5 2 6.47 7.9 34.37 6 South Australia 10 2 6 2 7.04 8.0 29.04 FINAL: Queensland beat Tasmania by nine wickets. 66 Australia in 2017/18