Bayliss Fears Bushrangers Could Snatch Cup With Late Charge

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday January 20, 2006

Trevor Marshallsea

NSW coach Trevor Bayliss has rated Victoria the side to beat in the Pura Cup this season after the Bushrangers pulled within two points of the competition lead through their rained-out draw against the Blues in Lismore yesterday.

With no play possible on day four in a match that looked headed for a draw in any case, Victoria now sit in third place on a congested Pura Cup table, with four rounds remaining before the final.

South Australia yesterday claimed a share of the lead with NSW on 20 points by beating Tasmania. Victoria have 18 after taking first-innings points in Lismore, while Queensland reached 16 points with an away win over Western Australia.

Bayliss is still "extremely happy" with where his defending champions sit despite the fact that after resounding wins in their first three matches they have managed only two points from their next three.

International duties are hitting the Blues harder than ever. Phil Jaques's Australian one-day call-up yesterday means a staggering eight NSW players are currently in that squad.

The situation may be the same during the next round of Pura Cup matches in the first week of February, when NSW travel to Queensland, and possibly for their following match at home to WA, which starts on the day of the third tri-series ODI final, if that match is required. After that, Australia travel to South Africa for a tour starting with one-dayers and will take several Blues with them.

Victoria should be a haven of stability in the next few weeks. Captain Cameron White, Test batsman Brad Hodge, and paceman Mick Lewis have all been overlooked for current one-day duty, and the not inconsiderable presence of Shane Warne could be back for the Bushrangers' next three games, depending on the niggling back, shoulder and finer injuries which kept him from Lismore recovering.

It is for this reason Bayliss regards the 2003-04 champions as his side's strongest threat, slightly ahead of an SA side with a mix of veterans such as Darren Lehmann and Jason Gillespie, and young bowlers Dan Cullen, Cullen Bailey and Shaun Tait.

"Victoria have three or four pace bowlers going well, which reminds me of us last year," said Bayliss, whose side had current ODI pacemen Nathan Bracken and Stuart Clark alongside Matthew Nicholson and Stuart MacGill virtually throughout last season. "Victoria have such a stable attack, they're probably the team to beat."

Aside from more entrenched internationals, Bayliss is budgeting to lose Jaques and Clark to Australia's one-day tour of South Africa. Jaques's record speaks for itself, but Bayliss said Clark's relentless accuracy had been missed this summer.

"We're still in there with a big show," Bayliss said. "The guys who've stepped up for are talented performers but we're hoping to get more consistency out of them the more they play."

Cricket NSW chief executive Dave Gilbert said a three-day aggregate crowd of 5409 had made the Lismore match worthwhile.

© 2006 Sydney Morning Herald

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