Just three rounds remain in the 2025-26 Sheffield Shield season, and it’s shaping up to be another classic finish to the regular season.
Queensland’s round seven victory over ladder-leaders Victoria has given the second-placed Bulls a bit of a buffer on the rest of the competition, which includes a 6.65-point gap over third placed Tasmania.
The top two sides after 10 rounds qualify for the final of the Shield, which will be hosted by the top-ranked team on March 26-30. Here’s a reminder on the scoring system:
Teams get six points for an outright win, one point for a draw, plus 0.01 of a bonus point for every run over 200 they score during the first 100 overs of their first innings (ie: 350 after 100 overs nets you 1.5 bonus points) and 0.1 of a bonus point for every wicket a team takes during the first 100 overs of their opponent’s first innings (ie: 10 wickets before 100 first-innings overs elapses nets you 1 point).
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
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
7
5
2
0
0
0
5.87
6.3
42.17
2
QLD
7
3
2
2
0
0
8.18
5.2
33.38
3
TAS
7
3
3
1
0
2
3.73
6
26.73
4
SA
7
2
2
3
0
0
4.69
6.6
26.29
5
NSW
7
2
3
2
0
0
4.67
5.9
24.57
6
WA
7
1
4
2
0
0
1.61
6.5
16.11
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
Below is a look at each state’s remaining matches and their potential path to the end-of-season decider.
Click here to see the Sheffield Shield fixtures
1. Victoria (42.17 points)
Most runs: Peter Handscomb (532)
Most wickets: Mitch Perry (25)
Remaining matches:
Away v Western Australia, WACA Ground (Feb 16-19)
Away v Tasmania, Bellerive Oval (Mar 5-8)
Home v South Australia, Junction Oval (Mar 14-17)
Although Victoria lost at home to Queensland in round seven, only a disastrous finish to the season would see them miss the final given they have a comfortable 15.44-point lead over Tasmania in third.
They will need to keep winning however if they’re to host the final, with back-to-back trips to Perth and Hobart coming up next. Thankfully for coach Chris Rogers, his squad is fairly healthy with not too many injuries or players lost to international duty to speak of. They could also be bolstered by the return of allrounder Matt Short, who was released from the T20 World Cup squad while Will Sutherland and Scott Boland are also expected to return this week after being managed.
In more positive news, first-gamer Dylan Brasher was asked to bat at No.3 on a tricky pitch against a quality attack and ticked a lot of boxes in his maiden match for the Vics.
2. Queensland (33.38 points)
Most runs: Marnus Labuschagne (453)
Most wickets: Mitch Swepson (24)
Remaining matches:
Home v South Australia, The Gabba (Feb 16-19)
Home v Western Australia, Allan Border Field (Mar 5-8)
Away v Tasmania, Bellerive Oval (Mar 14-17)
Queensland have been boosted significantly with the returns of Test stars Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja and Michael Neser for the remainder of the competition after their respective Ashes campaigns. Captain Labuschagne is the most notable one, saying he will stay with the Bulls until the final if required despite signing in the Pakistan Super League, which begins before the Shield decider. They have however somewhat unexpectedly lost Matt Renshaw to the T20 World Cup squad after he was a late inclusion for Matt Short.
There’s more than a few concerns on the injury front too, with fast bowlers Mark Steketee, Callum Vidler, Gurinder Sandu and Tom Whitney all out of action.
The Bulls have two home games in a row and finish their regular season with a trip down to Tasmania, a game that could decide a spot in the last match of the season.
Incredibly, with three rounds to go Queensland almost have as many points as they finished with last season (three wins and 39.76 points), which was enough for them to qualify for the decider, which they ultimately lost to South Australia.
3. Tasmania (26.73 points)
Most runs: Jordan Silk (481)
Most wickets: Gabe Bell (28)
Remaining match:
Home v NSW, Bellerive Oval (Feb 16-19)
Home v Victoria, Bellerive Oval (Mar 5-8)
Home v Queensland, Bellerive Oval (Mar 14-17)
Tasmania will be flying high after returning home from their Perth trip with a Shield win in the bag, after they narrowly edged out WA by 22 runs.
The Tigers now get to finish their season with three consecutive home games, the only side in the competition with such a luxury. However their final two games are against the two sides above them, Victoria and Queensland, so they’re most likely going to need to win both of those to sneak into the final on March 26.
Beau Webster’s availability for the rest of the tournament is a huge boon while Gabe Bell was back to his best in Perth with six wickets.
4. South Australia (26.29 points)
Most runs: Jake Lehmann (457)
Most wickets: Brendan Doggett (19)
Remaining matches:
Away v Queensland, The Gabba (Feb 16-19)
Home v NSW, Karen Rolton Oval (Mar 5-8)
Away v Victoria, Junction Oval (Mar 14-17)
Last year’s champions South Australia have it all to do if they’re going to go back-to-back in the Sheffield Shield. Two of their three remaining matches are away games and both of those games against the top two sides in Victoria and Queensland.
Although strengthened by the return of Alex Carey for the rest of the campaign, their spearhead and leading wicket-taker Brendan Doggett’s season is done after tearing his hamstring chasing a ball in round seven. Travis Head (Australia) and Ben Manenti (Italy) are currently busy at the T20 World Cup as well, although for different nations.
5. NSW (24.57 points)
Most runs: Kurtis Patterson (485)
Most wickets: Liam Hatcher (26)
Remaining matches:
Away v Tasmania, Bellerive Oval (Feb 16-19)
Away v South Australia, Karen Rolton Oval (Mar 5-8)
Home v Western Australia, Cricket Central (Mar 14-17)
NSW have already made the decision to sack their coach Greg Shipperd despite the season being far from over. He will finish the campaign with the Blues but it signals the end of an era for the state who are desperate to be consistently contending for titles.
Hosting South Australia in round seven, the Blues were in a very strong position and were hunting their third win of the season, a result that would have taken them to third, but persistent Sydney rain ruined their chances of a result.
On a positive note, it’s been a career-best year for 29-year-old Liam Hatcher who is the side’s top wicket-taker so far this season, while the return of Charlie Stobo to his native state has been a big win as well. Last season’s leading NSW run-scorer Kurtis Patterson keeps churning out the runs, with a ton in the Shield and corresponding One-Day Cup fixture against SA.
6. Western Australia (16.11 points)
Most runs: Cameron Bancroft (498)
Most wickets: Cameron Gannon (31)
Remaining matches:
Home v Victoria, WACA Ground (Feb 16-19)
Away v Queensland, Allan Border Field (Mar 5-8)
Away v NSW, Cricket Central (Mar 14-17)
Although mathematically still in the running for the final, Western Australia need a miracle if they’re to salvage something from season 2025-26.
Their bowling, most notably the competition’s leading wicket-taker Cameron Gannon, has been excellent and only South Australia have earned more bowling bonus points this season. However, WA’s batting has let them down on more than one occasion this season and their 1.61 batting bonus points is comfortably the lowest in the country.
It was pleasing to see a successful return to the Shield for Jhye Richardson, who took wickets and got runs in the close loss to Tasmania.
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
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
7
5
2
0
0
0
5.87
6.3
42.17
2
QLD
7
3
2
2
0
0
8.18
5.2
33.38
3
TAS
7
3
3
1
0
2
3.73
6
26.73
4
SA
7
2
2
3
0
0
4.69
6.6
26.29
5
NSW
7
2
3
2
0
0
4.67
5.9
24.57
6
WA
7
1
4
2
0
0
1.61
6.5
16.11
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
