Cricket’s sleeping giant has finally woken. It could usher in a new golden Aussie era

As Sam Elliott was preparing for his first Sheffield Shield final beginning today in Melbourne, the Victorian fast bowler with big aspirations was balancing the old with the new.

The 26-year-old, who has taken 33 wickets in seven domestic matches this season at an average of 17.18, had his old man Matt nattering away in his ear about the big match against South Australia.

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There is nothing wrong with that, of course, for old “Herb” speaks from experience, having played 21 Tests for Australia while also making 155 in the 2004 Shield final for Victoria.

“There is not much to live up to (there),” Sam Elliott joked on a Cricket Victoria podcast.

But what caught his eye was a pic of himself with Victorian captain Will Sutherland dating back to when they were both in primary school and mucking around with each other.

It drummed home to him both how far they had come, but also why there was such a strong connection in a team that clinched seven wins this season to secure a home final.

Champion bowler Scott Boland and former Australian Test representatives Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris are vastly experienced on the biggest stages.

But there is a cohort of younger Victorians led by Sutherland, who has played two ODIs for Australia, that include Test spinning understudy Todd Murphy who have helped drive the state’s resurgence in recent years.

Fergus O’Neill is boisterous in the locker room. Boland, according to those who know him, is “secretly funny”. Winning always lifts the mood, of course, and the Vics were narrowly denied a new winning record this week by a washout.

“It is more about connection than anything else. I saw a photo the other day of me and ‘Sullo’ as kids, as 10 or 11-year-olds having sleepovers and whatever else,” Elliott said.

“There is a good group of us who have come through as young guys (who are) mature cricketers now in our mid-20s who have played together since under-15s, under-16s.

“So (we) have a good mix with the experience of Pete and Bazza and Marcus Harris, all that sort of thing, and the connection between the group is second to none and there is really open dialogue between us. You feel like your opinion is valid, no matter who it is and what time of the game it is.”

It is an assessment Murphy, who was part of the Australian squad for the Boxing Day and New Years’ Tests against England this summer, agrees with.

“I’ve obviously played in a few different groups, but it does feel like this one’s super tight and the guys are just great mates away from cricket as well,” he said.

“We spent a lot of time together on the road and that. And it just feels like everyone gets along really well, and I think there’s a great drive now from this group to sort of achieve something for Cricket Victoria.

“We feel like it’s our time. I think we speak about it openly, as a group, that it’s something that we always strive for. I think you’re putting in so much work across a year to try and put yourself in a position to win a Shield and for us, as a group, it sits right at the top. So we’re really, really eager to try and win one.”

THE HOUSE THAT BUCK BUILT

Victorian coach Chris “Buck” Rogers is a man of many talents.

As a kid he was a good little tennis player in Perth, his scrambling skills, competitiveness and craftiness helping him secure a spot in a primary school age state team.

Cricket, of course, is where his prowess shone, with the bespectacled left-hander scoring 2015 runs in 25 Tests for Australia and more than 33,000 in an extended first class career.

His analysis when behind the microphone working as a broadcaster drips with diamonds. Rogers can dance, too, and was once chastised by Darren Lehmann for tardiness after dancing a jig when late to a celebratory Ashes function at the Opera House.

But his greatest legacy might well prove to be as a coach, for there is confidence in Victoria that several current state representatives are capable of flourishing into international players.

After development roles including a role coaching Australia’s under-19 team at a World Cup and stints with Gloucestershire and Somerset, he landed the Victorian gig in 2020.

At the time the instructions were clear according to Cricket Victoria chief executive Nick Cummins. Domestic success would be great, but Rogers was to develop players capable of national honours in his role in charge.

“It’s been a long rebuild,” Cummins said this week.

“We came off a really successful era in the teens and Graham Manou and Chris Rogers have chosen to take the long route in terms of developing Victorian talent, which is really exciting for us.

“We’ve got a range of players who are sort of under-26 and I think as the Australian team ages out, it’s very good chance for four or five Victorians to take a position there and (this final is) a chance for the Victorian community to see those guys in action before, I think, they chase higher honours.”

Ably supported by a broader cohort including Manou, high performance head David Hussey and development coach Julien Wiener, Rogers set about shaping the younger Victorians to become strong national prospects.

According to those in the know, there is a hands-on element to his coaching in terms of technique, but the 48-year-old also spends significant time on strategy and match craft.

“I think Bucky has sort of been moulding this group. We’ve come together … over the last couple of years, and it sort of feels like we’ve been building towards this,” Murphy said.

“And he’s got a great relationship with the guys. He can be there as your mate, but he’s also there as a coach as well to … guide you through.

“He’s had amazing experiences in his cricket career and I think he’s been able to pass all that on to our younger guys especially. He’s been awesome for us.”

Victoria were beaten by the powerful Western Australian team in consecutive finals in Perth in 2022 and 2023, with the latter leaving Sutherland in tears after the match.

Those efforts demonstrated there was talent among younger players but was also indicative of the fact that this Victorian squad was not yet the finished product. They needed to mature, to toughen up, to become the team to beat.

When reflecting on his coaching philosophy, Rogers said he looked at his own career at the crease and noted that while there were more talented players, he continued to learn and adjust and adapt in a bid to become the best he could be.

“I say to the players that the thing you want when you finish your career is that you want to reflect and think that you got the best out of yourself,” Rogers told the ABC on Wednesday.

“As a coach, the development piece is the key and if you can keep building and building and building, at some stage all those pieces are going to come together. Success is the outcome but it is the process I really enjoy.”

THE TOUGHEST CALL

Depth is always a good measure of a top side and Murphy winced on Monday when he was asked about the selection nightmare facing Victoria leading into the Shield final.

With Boland back in the fold after his Ashes heroics and Harris fully fit again after overcoming a back complaint, there was always going to be a squeeze for the decider.

Elliott ended up getting the nod over the unlucky Mitch Perry, who finished runner-up earlier this week in the Sheffield Shield player of the year award after taking 32 wickets at 21.75 but will miss the decider.

It was, Rogers said on Wednesday, “one of the hardest conversations I’ve had” but he believes Perry took the news reasonably.

Blake Macdonald, who made a mountain of runs for St Kilda to force his way into the state team after moving from New South Wales, was pipped by Footscray’s Dylan Brasher for a spot in the top order.

“Neither really deserves to miss out, but that is the strength of our program as well. We have never been in a position where we have had this much depth, and it has made selection a nightmare,” Rogers said.

So well have the Vics been going, talented opener Ashley Chandrasinghe has not been able to get a look in this year despite scoring more than 1000 runs this season in Premier Cricket.

“I think it’s a compliment to sort of everyone that’s come in that it’s going to be a super tough call, because the guys have been outstanding,” Murphy said.

“But I think that’s the makings of a good team as well. There’s always those hard luck stories, and I’m sure whoever gets the nod to play will … do them proud as well.”

Perry has missed out on the final. But he is among a cohort the Victorians believe can play for Australia in at least one format in coming years given their excellence.

Murphy is the preferred off-spinner behind Nathan Lyon. Oliver Peake is a dynamic teenager of immense promise. Campbell Kellaway looks a potential Australian opener as well.

O’Neill has been excellent in Sheffield Shield in recent years and Elliott and Perry have emerged as prospective candidates as well after superb seasons.

Sam Harper, 29, has proven a match-winner with the bat since shifting to the top of the order while also continuing to handle the gloves with distinction as well.

“I think the number one thing that we’ve put at the forefront is developing players for Australia rather than winning trophies,” Cummins said.

“I think you can take the short road and top up and there’s been players from other states who’ve looked to move who we could have signed. But I think if we had done that, you know, players like Sam Harper or Campbell Kellaway … may not have got the opportunities that they’ve got.

“And the reality is that we believe at Cricket Victoria that the most important thing we can do is produce players for Australia, and if we do that, then winning will come as an outcome. So that sometimes required us to keep the high performance unit calm around the fact that, ‘Okay, we’re not winning, but that’s okay (because) we can see where we’re going’. If you look now at Todd (Murphy), at Kellaway, Peake, O’Neill, Elliott, Perry, Sutherland, all these players who are 26 and under … are all genuine chances to play international cricket.

“I think that we’re absolutely locked in to playing our role. And I think that that’s just taken a lot of patience from the board down, instead of looking at the cabinet saying, ‘We want a trophy. Let’s go and sign a whole lot of 30-plus-year-olds’. And I really hope that Chris Rogers gets the reward that he so richly deserves.”

THE CREAM ON TOP

Wearing sunglasses while dressed in casual clothes, Scott Boland looked primed to perform when he strode into the Junction Oval on a Monday that was unseasonably humid for late March.

It is indisputable the Vics walk taller when Boland, who is playing his 100th game for Victoria in what will be his seventh appearance in a Sheffield Shield final, is leading from the front.

But he also embodies what might be possible for the Victorians in their 20s if they continue to persevere and improve their craft, regardless of their speciality.

“Having Scotty around the group, it just lifts everyone,” Elliott told the Cricket Victoria podcast.

“Being able to lean on him in times where you might be a bit out of rhythm, or about how to set up a batter, he has been through it and seen everything. He has had to grind away at state level for a long time before getting his opportunity and then taking it, so he is a perfect person to lean on.

“He is obviously quite a reserved character, though secretly he is very funny. But when he says something, you listen. He is one of those characters that when he says something, there is weight behind it. It is invaluable stuff, especially when you are in the heat of the moment out there.”

Boland’s first game in 2011 came in an attack led by James Pattison, a former Australian quick, in a side also featuring current Australian coach Andrew McDonald and Rogers. Fifteen years on and he is the main man for his state.

He has been planning for the occasion and is determined to “hit the ground running”, noting the fact Victoria had secured a spot in the final not long after the Shield season resumed in February allowed him to prime himself for the decider.

“I have loved the last three or four years for Victoria where I have been the older guy who will get the ball in tricky situations … where I can have a real effect on the game, so I am looking forward to that this week,” he said.

“But knowing that we have such a strong bowling attack, it is not just on one player to do the job. There are guys who have had some experience in finals who know what to do in big games. It is not just all on me. We have such a well rounded bowling attack and I think we can get the job done in any conditions.”

Handscomb, who was the leading run scorer in domestic cricket this year, retains Australian aspirations and looms as a candidate for India next summer given his prowess against spin.

Harris, meanwhile, has also focused on ending a drought for Victoria dating back to 2018/19 after missing out on the openers role and is enjoying watching the youngsters progress as they seek a 33rd Sheffield Shield.

“I think where myself, Peter Handscomb, Scotty Boland can help is that we have been in this scenario a few times before, so the young guys can lean on us if they need to,” he said.

“But in this group, most of the guys have played in a Shield final before. It is not a foreign environment for them.”

WHAT IS AT STAKE

The Victorians have only lost twice this season, both to Queensland. But they are well aware that South Australia is a superb team keen to build a dynasty after last year’s success.

Rogers, who is out of contract but hopes to continue in the role, and South Australian coach Ryan Harris know each other well. They were Australian teammates who were appointed to national high performance roles in 2018.

Nathan McSweeney and Brendan Doggett have played Test cricket under Harris’s stewardship. It looks likely there will be Victorian representatives guided by Rogers who get that opportunity in the future as well.

“They are extremely well coached by Ryan Harris,” Rogers said.

“I know ‘Ryano’ well and I don’t think I have met too many people who are more competitive than ‘Ryano’ and I know that is the thing he is going to be bringing to this group. They will be 100 percent committed and we know it will be an absolute dogfight.”

The immediate focus is on the five-day decider that starts today, a final that may well be disrupted by rain over the next couple of days before the weather settles by the weekend.

“It would be pretty special,” Boland said.

“As I have said before, I was a young guy in an older team and we were a really strong team and won three Shield titles in a row and then, without having the taste of a Shield final over the last couple of years, you just want to get back to playing the game.

“You see the support the South Australian guys had last year … and it makes you jealous, so to get the chance to do it at home … I’m really hoping we win it this year.”

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