Jaques’ response to JLT Cup finals exit

[Hogg]

Despite being knocked out of the JLT One-Day Cup by wet weather and one miserly run, Blues coach Phil Jaques can find plenty of positives in his side's 50-over campaign.

Entering Thursday's qualifying final against Victoria equal on points but behind by 0.02 on Net Run Rate, NSW needed a win to advance in the tournament, but persistent showers resulted in the match being abandoned without a ball bowled.

It meant the Blues were eliminated from the competition, but had they scored one more run in their loss against Victoria in the group stage it would have denied the Vics a bonus point and seen NSW finish higher on the ladder.

Jaques' charges also had a chance to leapfrog their southern neighbours on NRR by tracking down Queensland's 296 in 44 overs on Monday, but reached the victory target 10 balls too late.

Those missed opportunities have come back to haunt the Blues, who had momentum on their side after two impressive wins in a row to finish the group stage.

"Everything you do at the start of the tournament you feel it's not as relevant, then by the end of the tournament it's all relevant," Jaques told cricket.com.au.

"We had a few numbers around but we didn't know the exact numbers (against the Bulls).

"We were ultimately trying to chase 300, trying to get it as quickly as we could, and the Net Run Rate was disappointing to miss out by so close.

"The game against the Vics we didn't play very good cricket as we probably didn't play good cricket for those first couple of games.

"We built some momentum through the tournament and the last couple of games I thought we played some really solid cricket.

"We were really building towards something and unfortunately we missed out by a few runs."

While the hurt of elimination was still raw, Jaques said the performances of his uncapped players were shining lights for the Blues.

"A few guys in their first campaign and really stepped up," he said.

"Guys like Jack Edwards, Daniel Sams and Chris Green amongst other seasoned campaigners.

"Moises (Henriques, veteran allrounder) had some fantastic results as well.

"I thought there was some real positives to come out of the tournament.

"We found out about some players, some really good things to build on in this season and beyond and it really sets us up for a strong Shield season."

Prior to the season, Jaques preached how the Blues – despite fielding an inexperienced squad – would still be held to elite standards and emphasised the importance of building a strong culture of unity.

After starting with two comprehensive losses to Western Australia and South Australia in Perth, which was followed by the heavy loss to Victoria, Jaques' new philosophy was tested early.

But the coach said he was impressed by how his troops stuck together and rebounded with two important wins as the tournament progressed.

"I thought there was a few wobbles in the first couple of games but I really enjoyed the character and the fight in general at certain stages," he said.

"To be two for not many and then chase down 300 the other night (against Queensland) was a really strong showing.

"To get bowled out for 240 at North Sydney Oval is normally game over on a wicket that was very good and one we felt we were 80 runs short on against Tasmania.

"But we bowled really strongly to bowl them out for 150-odd.

"There was some good character showed at times and that's testament to the closeness of the group and the work they've done through the winter on building that culture of being elite and never being out of the contest.

"It wasn't perfect, we didn’t play great cricket the first couple of games but we showed improvement over the course of the series and that's really positive."

He concluded: "We always knew it was going to be a bit of a learning curve, this tournament.

"We still had expectations to win and perform.

"We're NSW, we have those expectations.

"To start none from three was an interesting situation and a good learning one from a coaching perspective.

"But I really enjoyed the team fought and stated together and built some momentum at the back end.

"It's just a shame we couldn’t show it in the finals."