Inglis makes his BGT case, Smith fails but Carey remains unstoppable

How did Australia’s Test regulars fare?

3 & 0 - Steve Smith has a comeback to forget  

All eyes were on ‘former opener’ Steve Smith heading into the second round of the Sheffield Shield, but, batting at No.3, Australia’s talisman endured a horror time at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, posting 3 (29) in the first innings before following it up with a four-ball duck in the second. In the first dig, he gloved a rising delivery off young Fergus O'Neill to the keeper, down the leg side. In the second, he shouldered arms to Scott Boland and was trapped in front by a sharp nip-backer. 

Admittedly, the LBW was slightly contentious but still Smith looked in no rhythm across the 33 balls he faced in the game. Don’t be surprised if he now ends up playing more Shield games in the lead-up to the India series.

Labuschagne (22, 10) & Khawaja (0, 39) endure failures

After a promising first round (77 & 35*), Queensland skipper Marnus Labuschagne had a game to forget against South Australia, failing to cross the 25-run mark in both the innings. He was dismissed by the lanky Jordan Buckingham in the first and then an on-fire Nathan McAndrew in the second.

Meanwhile, Usman Khawaja registered his first duck of the season in the first innings before posting a valiant 39 in the second. He failed to convert that start.

As it turned out, Queensland slipped to a 129-run defeat.

9 & 6 - Marsh fails twice; does not bowl a single ball 

Mitchell Marsh couldn’t capitalize on the 94 he scored against Queensland as he perished in single-digits twice in the clash against Tasmania. Marsh departed in the first innings trying to smack a pull into the mid-wicket stand, and was caught in the slip cordon in the second. For the second Shield game running, Marsh did not bowl a single ball. 

How the all-rounder will build his bowling workload ahead of the India Tests remains to be seen. 

1/61 & 1/78 - Nathan Lyon has a quiet game 

Following an eight-wicket haul against South Australia, Nathan Lyon had a quiet game against Victoria at the MCG. He only picked two wickets and one was that of a tail-ender. But Lyon enduring a quiet game was down to the spicy nature of the MCG surface that offered a ton of assistance to the quicks. Out of the 24 wickets that fell in the contest, a whopping 21 fell to seam, with pacers registering an average of 17.4.

1/35 & 6/81 - Mitchell Starc sizzles on red-ball return

No red-ball games played in seven months? No problem. Mitchell Starc put up a stellar showing in his first Shield game of the season, picking up a 6-fer in the second innings with some really hostile bowling. Test hopeful Marcus Harris was the key wicket in the Victoria line-up and Starc accounted for the left-hander not once but twice. 

In fact, the pair had an intriguing battle in the first innings in which the left-arm speedster emerged victorious.

Quite the warning message to India, you can say.

42, 123* & 9 catches - Alex Carey continues to be unstoppable

It might sound crazy but Alex Carey is genuinely the best batter in the Australian Test line-up on current form. He registered scores of 90 & 111 in the first Shield game of the season, with the 111 being a match-saving ton. In the second round, the wicketkeeper batter followed it up with two more quality knocks. A 123* in the second innings was a match-winning century that helped South Australia triumph over Queensland.  

On top of this, Carey took nine catches in the game, with seven of those coming in the second innings alone.

Alex Carey’s scores in his last five first-class knocks: 123*, 42, 111, 90 & 98*

Note: Travis Head did not play the second round of the Shield, while Josh Hazlewood is expected to feature in round three

Top performer of the week - Josh Inglis

Alex Carey or Josh Inglis? Why not Alex Carey AND Josh Inglis? Well, Inglis is making a serious case to play as a specialist batter in the middle-order in Cameron Green’s absence. 

The right-hander smashed 122 & 48 in the first Shield game of the season and then, in round two, followed it up with 101 & 26*. The 26* might not look like a big deal but Inglis walked in when Western Australia were reeling at 18/4, chasing 83. 

Inglis is now averaging 70.38 in first-class cricket in 2024, having hammered three hundreds. Surely a Test call-up is imminent?

NSW coach Greg Shipperd believes Inglis can even open in Tests and replicate David Warner. 

"I'd have Inglis and Konstas as one and two and let the selectors mull over those two," Shipperd said. "His performances for Australia have been first-class. I think they (national selectors) are looking for a style of player. Inglis may fit that brief.

"He's a right-handed version of David Warner in terms of getting on with the play. Strokes all around the wicket and he's played at the level internationally. He's a well-respected player."

How did the other BGT hopefuls fare?

Cameron Bancroft - 8 & 2 (four single-digit scores in a row this season)

Marcus Harris - 26 & 16 (was dismissed by Starc twice in the game)

Sam Konstas - 2 & 43 (was at the receiving end of a bad LBW call in the first innings)

Scott Boland - 1/48 & 2/56 (got the big wicket of Steve Smith in the second innings)

Michael Neser - 3/61 & 1/66 (also scored 37 & 4 with the bat in hand)

Nathan McSweeney - 37 & 72 (averaging 50.18 in red-ball cricket this year)

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