Sheffield Shield previews: Victoria and New South Wales

[Torrent Disney]

Victoria celebrate the Sheffield Shield 2018-19 title win, their fourth in the last five years Getty Images

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6:00 AM

Alex Malcolm

Andrew McGlashan

Victoria

Last season Champions (League stage: 6 wins, 1 defeats, 3 draws)
Captain Peter Handscomb
Coach Andrew McDonald

2018-19 stats

Overview

The defending champions are well placed to go back-to-back. Last season's success was built on the phenomenal run-scoring of Marcus Harris at the top of the order and a deep and well-balanced battery of fast bowlers. Harris, who became the first player to pass 1000 runs in a Shield season since 2014-15 and was Player of the Match in the final, did cover an inconsistent top order, but their batting will only be strengthened this season. Will Pucovski is a year older and a year wiser. Nic Maddinson scored three centuries last season despite only batting eight times due to a broken arm and broken finger, and missed the final. Victoria will have some selection headaches with Peter Handscomb, Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell set to be available for at least five of the first six games, barring being called to the Test squad. Victoria are also planning to regularly rotate their bevy of quicks, in Scott Boland, Chris Tremain, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson and Andrew Fekete, as they did last season. But they will also potentially look to introduce young quicks Will Sutherland and Xavier Crone into the rotation. Jon Holland remains a key cog with his left-arm spin while Seb Gotch and Sam Harper will be battling for the wicketkeeping duties. Gotch was excellent last season but Harper has shown tremendous potential in short-form cricket and will push for opportunities.

Player to watch

Peter Handscomb will be an intriguing player to follow this season. He was in and out of the Test line-up summer due to form and questions about his batting method before becoming a mainstay of the ODI side. He was then squeezed out of the World Cup squad only to be called up to play the semi-final against England on limited preparation. He remains in Australia's limited-overs plans but his Test prospects should not be discounted. He has two Test hundreds and has been a consistent performer at Shield level for many seasons. Matthew Wade's reinvention as a Test player on the back of dominating domestic cricket should give Handscomb hope if he piles up scores for Victoria.

Young gun

All eyes will be on Will Pucovski in the early part of the season as Australia search for some top-order Test players. The question is rather when, not if, he should be introduced to the Test side. He has all the makings of a Test batsman and joined an illustrious group of Australia greats in scoring a Shield double century before his 21st birthday last year, a group that included Don Bradman and Ricky Ponting. Managing his mental health saw him miss chunks of last season, but he got a taste of the Test squad in February before taking time away. The Australia A tour seemed to go smoothly for him. Much is expected of him this summer