The Sheffield Shield final may be held at Manuka Oval in Canberra or
Gliderol Stadium in Glenelg after both New South Wales and South
Australia were forced to find alternatives to their main venues. The
last round of matches begins on Tuesday and will determine the
finalists, with South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia
all equal on 26 points at the top of the table and Queensland also in
contention on 22 points.
South Australia had already advised that if they were to host the final
it would be held in Glenelg instead of at Adelaide Oval due to a Rolling
Stones concert, and New South Wales have also had to come up with
another plan. The SCG will be in use for Major League Baseball matches
between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks, and
Cricket New South Wales has nominated Manuka Oval as its final venue.
The Blues will play Western Australia at Manuka Oval in the final round
in a match that will go a long way to determining the make-up of the
final, although South Australia's match in Hobart against Tasmania will
also be important. Last year's runners-up, Queensland, could also
catapult themselves into the decider if they beat Victoria at the MCG.
All three of the top sides will benefit from the return of Test players
from the tour of South Africa, with Steven Smith to captain New South
Wales, who also gain Nathan Lyon. Shaun Marsh is likely to rejoin the
Western Australia outfit, perhaps as a replacement for his brother
Mitchell, who suffered a side strain in last week's match.
Phillip Hughes will make his return for South Australia but the Redbacks
will be without their captain Johan Botha, who was suspended for one
match for a bizarre incident in last week's match against New South
Wales. Botha was believed to have called for the new ball during the New
South Wales innings and then rubbed the old ball on his boot spikes
before throwing it off the ground.