South Australia haven’t lost in the Sheffield Shield since October to surge into the final against Victoria
Breakout allrounder Liam Scott believes South Australia are “peaking at the right time” as the state seeks to win consecutive Sheffield Shield titles for the first time in their history.
The defending Shield champions are undefeated in the four-day competition since late October, having last lost a match in round two against Queensland.
They’ve won two of their past three matches, with a draw against fellow finalists Victoria in the last round of the season enough to seal a spot in the decider after Queensland went down to Tasmania.
Three of SA’s four wins this season have been by emphatic margins, knocking off NSW earlier this month by nine wickets, Queensland last month by seven wickets and Tasmania in December by 10 wickets.
But Victoria were the dominant side throughout the season as they became just the fifth team to win seven or more games in a Sheffield Shield home-and-away season.
“They’ve done really well this year; they’ve been the benchmark of the competition,” Scott told reporters at Adelaide Oval on Thursday.
“But I think we’re starting to play our best cricket at the right time of year.
“It’s an unreal feeling to know that you’re going to be competing again for the title, which is what we play cricket for.
“Hopefully, we can really put on a good performance and go back-to-back.”
SA broke a 29-year Sheffield Shield drought when they defeated Queensland in the final at Karen Rolton Oval last March, sparking an incredible pitch invasion from their loyal supporters when Jason Sangha hit the winning runs in a throwback to the scenes that followed their previous title win in 1995-96.
While SA finished more than 15 points clear at the top of the standings to seal hosting rights for last year’s final, they had to come from behind this season after losing their first two games to Victoria and Queensland.
They’ve also battled a mounting injury toll throughout the campaign with Test-capped quick Brendan Doggett only playing three matches due to separate hamstring injuries at the start and end of the season, as well as his international duties.
Spencer Johnson has also missed the entire summer with a back stress fracture, while Wes Agar and emerging left-arm quick Campbell Thompson are currently sidelined.
The team sat fourth in the standings with three rounds to go but surged into second spot with two wins and a draw to finish the regular season.
“Last season everything went our way,” Scott said.
“This season we’ve been tested at times, and we’ve had lots of injuries.
“Natural progression is that when you do well, people get picked for higher honors, so we’ve had that this year with Brendan Doggett going and playing some Test cricket, and guys (like himself) were lucky to go away and play for Australia A.
“That’s the best part about what we got here in South Australia is the depth in our squad is unbelievable. Everyone’s been called on at certain times of the season and we’re lucky to be now competing in the final, so I’m sure we’ll give it everything.”
Individually, Scott has enjoyed a career-best Shield season with both bat and ball and having represented Australia A against both Sri Lanka A and India A, the 25-year-old is already on the national selectors’ radar.
Scott is one of just nine batters to average over 40 this Shield season with his 496 runs coming at 41.33, while he has also taken 23 wickets from his nine matches.
It comes on the back of a breakthrough 310-run season for Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash and being crowned the One-Day Cup player of the season last summer when SA won the Dean Jones Trophy.
SA coach Ryan Harris said that the team’s success had shown his players that they’re “not that far away” from higher honours if they perform well.
“Playing for Australia A is a great thing and we’ve had a couple of guys go on tours – Mackenzie Harvey came out of the clouds last year in one-day cricket and Liam Scott’s another,” Harris said after their round 10 draw with Victoria.
“The experiences they’re getting from (those) conditions but also from other coaches; they’re learning new stuff so it’s all a great positive.
“There’s a lot of cricket coming up so I’m hoping they’re thinking that if they play well, there’s an opportunity to go up.”
Sheffield Shield 2025-26
Final: Victoria v South Australia, Junction Oval, March 26-30
Team
Matches played
M
Wins
W
Losses
L
Drawn
D
No results
N/R
Deductions
Ded.
Batting Bonus
Bat
Bowling Bonus
Bowl
Total points
PTS
1
VIC
10
7
2
1
0
0
8.56
9.3
60.86
2
SA
10
4
2
4
0
0
7.61
9.2
44.81
3
QLD
10
3
4
3
0
0
8.18
8.2
37.38
4
TAS
10
4
4
2
0
2
3.73
8.5
36.23
5
NSW
10
2
4
4
0
0
6.94
8.6
31.54
6
WA
10
1
5
4
0
0
2.95
9.2
22.15
Legend
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
