WACA will fight Vics’ shifty final switch
WACA officials are furious that Cricket Australia will require the Sheffield Shield final to be played at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Saturday rather than apply its own rules to move it to the WACA Ground.
Two months after Perth Scorchers were forced to play the Big Bash League final in Canberra rather than at home, another neutral venue will be used for the finale of the major domestic competition.
Bellerive Oval is set to be announced this morning as the venue for the final with Victoria as the hosts and WA almost certain to be their opponents.
But WACA chief executive Christina Matthews said that decision would be challenged because CA’s rules require the second-placed team to host the final if the top team is unable to.
“We will challenge it if they are going outside their own rules,” Matthews said.
“We have concerns about getting enough accommodation and flights to Hobart, but we are most concerned that a fair decision is made.
“We will argue strongly that we have the right to host the final if Victoria is unable to.”
Victoria finished on top after completing a 400-run win over Tasmania yesterday.
WA duo Cameron Bancroft (144 not out) and Michael Klinger (159 not out) took WA to
1-320 after batting implacably through the 7½-hour day against NSW at the WACA yesterday to make it virtually impossible for the Warriors to lose second place.
The Bushrangers cannot play at the MCG because of the World Cup final on March 29, while their alternative ground Junction Oval is being redeveloped.
A CA spokesman said Victoria had the choice of venue as a reward for finishing on top.
“The team that wins the right to host the final can nominate where they will play,” the spokesman said.
But shield playing conditions contradict that and anticipate the possibility that a suitable venue may not be available in the minor premiers’ State.
“The team that finished first on the points table ... shall earn the right to host the final at a suitable first-class venue within its State,” it says.
“Should the team waive this right, the choice shall be offered to the team that finished second.”
Bancroft produced his third ton of the summer and Klinger his fourth of a superb debut season for WA as they became just the seventh pair in shield history to bat through a full day.
Their unbeaten 317-run stand was WA’s highest for the second wicket.
Klinger’s half century was the second slowest by any WA batsman as he crawled to 50 in 276 minutes, but the prolific recruit accelerated after lunch.
Bancroft’s triple century took six hours.
