Catch up on all the standout performances, as well as how the big names fared on day two
Matthew Renshaw put his name up in lights with a superb century on day two of the Sheffield Shield season, with his Queensland teammates Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne also in the runs.
The Bulls’ Test-capped top three made light work of the Tasmanian attack at Allan Border Field, the home side reaching 1-248 off 68 overs at stumps in response to the Tigers’ first innings 379.
Australian opener Khawaja hit a free flowing 69 from 118 balls with 10 boundaries in his first knock of the domestic summer after sitting out Queensland’s first two 50-over matches, while Labuschagne, who began the season with a one-day century, finished the day unbeaten on 54.
The highlight of the Queensland captain’s innings as he pushes for a Test recall in next month’s Ashes opener was a towering six to bring up his half-century, stepping across his stumps to medium pacer Brad Hope and slog sweeping him over midwicket.
But the day belonged to opener Renshaw, who was authoritative driving down the ground and hit a huge straight six of his own in his unbeaten 114 from 214 balls.
Renshaw played the last of his 14 Tests in India in February 2023, coming in as a concussion replacement for David Warner mid-match after being left out following the first Test.
The 29-year-old left-hander quietly accumulated 305 one-day runs at 50 along with two Shield centuries last season and would be well in the Ashes reckoning with a strong start to the new campaign.
“It’s hard – you have to get rid of a lot of things, external noise, off your phone and stuff but I just want to try and go out there (and play),” Renshaw said at stumps on day two.
“I know that when I’m doing my job for Queensland, opening the batting well, we’re generally winning games.
“There’s a lot of noise that people can and can’t deliver, but I just want to go out there and have fun and play like it. If you told 12-year-old Matt that he was going to score a Sheffield Shield hundred, he’d be pretty pumped.”
His century followed fellow Ashes hopeful Jake Weatherald’s 67 on the opening day.
Cameron Green made a successful return to bowling as he took a wicket second ball in his first match for Western Australia in more than 18 months.
He was later dismissed caught behind for a hard-fought 19 from 43 balls, becoming Ryan Hadley’s third victim of the innings as he troubled WA’s batters with his pace and bounce.
Green, bowling in a match for the first time since back surgery almost a year ago, found Charlie Stobo’s edge in his opening over that Cameron Gannon took comfortably at first slip.
“It’s nice to have that at your disposal, albeit for four overs today,” WA’s Hilton Cartwright said of Green post-play.
“He’s an amazing cricketer, we love him … and if he can bowl 137kph and bat at four, he’s going to tick a lot of boxes in a lot of teams.”
Australian allrounder Green sent down four overs (he reveal he is limited to eight for the match) for the tidy return of 1-13 with two maidens, but WA limped to 7-116 at stumps in response to NSW’s first innings 170 as 14 wickets fell on day two.
Nathan Lyon is yet to take a wicket, sending down 10 overs for 31 runs.
In Adelaide, Marcus Harris made a bright start in his new No.3 role for Victoria, scoring 61 from 149 deliveries before some sloppy running between the wickets cost him his wicket.
The Test-capped left-hander appeared to casually slide his bat on a 45-degree angle after Peter Handscomb called for a quick single, with Daniel Drew’s direct hit from cover catching Harris fractionally short of his ground.
Meanwhile, Cameron Bancroft fell in strange circumstances in Perth as he was beaten by a superb delivery from Hadley that the umpire adjudged he had nicked to NSW wicketkeeper Matthew Gilkes.
But replays suggested the noise might not have been an edge, but the ball glancing the off bail, which wobbled but stayed put, meaning Bancroft would have survived had he not been given out.
Scott Boland returned to the wicket’s column with the first two breakthroughs on day two for Victoria, dismissing both South Australian centurions Henry Hunt (126) and Jake Lehmann (113).
Mitch Perry also struck again to finishing with 4-75 in the first innings.
