Australia’s ODI players are set to return from England early next week with the opening Shield round to begin on October 8. Victoria host Tasmania at the Junction Oval in Melbourne before a host of Australia Test and white-ball stars look set to be available for the second Shield round starting on October 20 when Victoria host New South Wales at the MCG.
The third and fourth Shield rounds overlap with Australia’s home ODI and T20I series against Pakistan that runs from November 4-18. There are also two Australia A first-class games against India A in the first two weeks in November. There are two more Shield rounds starting on November 24 and December 6 while the Border-Gavaskar series is underway, just before the BBL starts.
Maxwell will not be part of Australia’s Test squad for the five-Test home series against India but he is a chance to go to Sri Lanka for the two-Test series that could be crucial in Australia’s quest to make another World Test Championship final. Maxwell was part of the Sri Lanka tour in 2022 and nearly played the first Test in Galle, with his ability as a spin-bowling allrounder seen as an asset in spinning conditions, especially if the Tests are set to be low-scoring and fast moving. All of his seven Test matches have been played on the subcontinent with his last coming in Bangladesh in 2017.
Australia’s selectors have made it clear previously that they see very little link between Shield cricket and Test cricket in Sri Lanka from a form line perspective but Victoria is keen to have Maxwell play some red-ball cricket for them in the early part of the summer and it will be an opportunity for him to get into the red-ball rhythm given he has played so little in recent years despite conditions in Victoria in October being a world away from the subcontinent.
“I think he’ll be available for a couple and I believe he’s keen to play as well,” Sutherland said on Wednesday. “Obviously, things can change with him playing at the moment, but to have a player like Glenn potentially come into our side is a bit of a luxury, so hopefully that can work out nicely.”
“I believe it’s the second [game],” Sutherland said of Boland’s return. “You have to double check with him, but I faced him in the nets a few days ago, and he’s still nipping the ball back into me, blowing my quad off every second ball. So he’s still got his tools, and he’s just building up nice. So I’m sure he’ll be ready to go for the Shield season.”
Sutherland revealed he will likely be on bowling restrictions during the start of the Shield season coming off a stress fracture in his back. He bowled six overs and made 36 not out in Victoria’s opening One-Day win over Tasmania on Monday in Melbourne but he said he is still working up his loads for Shield cricket but he will bowl again in Friday’s One-Day Cup game against Queensland.
“I’ll be able to play the first game, probably. I just won’t be able to bowl as many overs as I would like,” Sutherland said. “I’ll be on restrictions. What that looks like will depend on how Friday goes. But, yeah, there’ll be limits for sure.
“I think it’s the main issue is like bowling back to back days, so I’ll be able to bowl a fair bit on one day, but then unfortunately, the next day, we’ll be in a bit of strife. So it does create some issues at times. But we’ll just have to work through that and maybe miss the odd game here and there.”
Sutherland has been doing some work on his action over the winter with Victoria bowling coach Adam Griffith in order to avoid further back trouble.
“I’m just trying to get more stable at the crease,” Sutherland said. “I would like to pick up a couple yards as well. So I’ve definitely been doing plenty. They sort of go hand in hand. The more efficient you get, it’s probably safer at the crease, and you can maybe pick up a few yards as well. Definitely doing some work there.”
Sutherland said he has been in contact with Pucovski via text message and said his teammates have been checking in.
“He’s probably closer to other guys than me, but we’ve sent the old message to each other just trying to stick with him,” Sutherland said. “We’re a tight group at Victoria. We want to have that family sort of feel so I’m sure a lot of boys have tried to keep in touch with him.
“I’m not sure of the situation he’s obviously going through at the moment. I’m probably not the right person to ask, but hopefully things can work out for him, and we’re definitely looking after him and trying to keep in touch.”
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo