Hussey: We can still win
Thu, 4 March 2010
Stand-in Victorian captain David Hussey is adamant his side can maintain top spot on the Shield table and host the final, despite a poor second day against the Warriors in Perth. With three Shield matches on concurrently, it was a defining day for several states' chances, although the usually dominant Victorians struggled somewhat as they conceded first-innings points. Queensland and New South Wales fared the best, though, both establishing big leads over South Australia and Tasmania respectively. With the Tigers (third) and Redbacks (fourth) now needing big turnarounds to win outright and have any chance of playing the final, this effectively leaves Victoria and Queensland as the two finalists, for the Blues and Warriors are out of contention. But whether it's played in Melbourne or Brisbane remains to be seen, as the Bulls' first-innings win over South Australia takes them to 28 points, just one adrift of Victoria's 29 with a match remaining next week. Hussey, though, believes his side is good enough to recover from its poor start and claim all six points against the Warriors. Currently at 2-80 in their second dig, the unbeaten Hussey (39) and Nick Jewell (32) rescued the Bushrangers from a sticky 2-15 to give themselves hope of setting a big total to defend. "We're still top of the table," declared Hussey. "I still believe we can get six points here and then we'll go further ahead on the table." "Hopefully WA can do us a favour in the last round," he added, referring to the clash between the Warriors and Bulls at the Gabba. "We've got Tassie at home and we play particularly well at home so no added pressure." "Hopefully we can get six points here and six points against Tassie and host the final." Despite having scored just 199 in their first innings, the Bushrangers appeared capable of taking the first-innings advantage when they reduced the Warriors to 6-145 by lunch after a sizzling spell of bowling by Damien Wright (3-72). But an incident just before lunch proved significant as Luke Ronchi survived a close squeak on one, the wicketkeeper eventually making 55 and combining with Luke Pomersbach (74) for 103 runs in WA's total of 274, a 75-run lead. Ronchi had shouldered arms to a Darren Pattinson (3-70) delivery that nipped in viciously and glanced the bail on its way through without dropping it to the ground. Despite the impact on the game and even Victoria's season, Hussey was his usual genial self when asked about Ronchi's close shave. "Never seen that (happen)," Hussey admitted. "But like all the boys said, good things happen to good people and Ronchs is a very good man, so happy for him to have a bit of luck." Down the other end, Pomersbach said it was the second time he'd seen such an incident this summer. "It actually hit the bail and just dislodged a bit and just sat on top of the stump," Pomersbach said. "It actually happened to me in club cricket this year, I was bowling and I was spewing." "The bowlers aren't too happy when that happens." "(So) he had a bit of luck and made 'em pay for a while there. He was unfortunate to not get a hundred."
Paul Barbieri, Sportal
