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Domesticated - 4 Contenders in SPOTLIGHT to replace Marnus! 😳 + Is Nathan Lyon on his way out? · The Follow-On

0:00
Speaker 1: With another collapse in South Africa and Test Series defeat,
0:04
Speaker 1: it looks as though there'll be at least one position
0:06
Speaker 1: up for grabs in Australia's top order. Welcome to Domesticated.
0:09
Speaker 1: I'm Justin Edwards, Fox Cricket writer. Will Faulkner joins me. Will,
0:13
Speaker 1: it does look like this is the end of the
0:15
Speaker 1: road for Marnus Labuschagne. There's no Harry Hindsight from us
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Speaker 1: on this. We both said on our last show that
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Speaker 1: we would have him at number three for that third Test,
0:22
Speaker 1: but it does look like with two poor innings with
0:25
Speaker 1: the bat that this is going to be it for Marnus.
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Speaker 2: Yes, good afternoon, Justin. Pleasure to be here as always. Yeah,
0:31
Speaker 2: unfortunately for Manus, it looks like the end of the
0:34
Speaker 2: road for now. I don't think there's too many people
0:36
Speaker 2: that would doubt that he'll be back in the Australian
0:37
Speaker 2: team at some point in his career, but I think
0:40
Speaker 2: now Unfortunately, after 49 test innings without a century, it
0:44
Speaker 2: makes it pretty hard to keep backing him in, particularly
0:46
Speaker 2: with this summer and obviously the important series ahead against
0:50
Speaker 2: India in India and then England in the Ashes. That's
0:52
Speaker 2: going to be a legacy-defining series for so many reasons,
0:55
Speaker 2: as we all know. But for Marnus, as I said,
0:56
Speaker 2: 49 test innings. He can't really go too much longer
0:59
Speaker 2: at test level batting at number three without those three
1:02
Speaker 2: figures next to his name. So there's going to be
1:03
Speaker 2: a lot of talk, a lot of conjecture. as to
1:06
Speaker 2: who his potential replacement would be, but I think it
1:08
Speaker 2: would be fair to say that a lot of us
1:09
Speaker 2: are expecting him to go back to the Sheffield Shield
1:11
Speaker 2: for the foreseeable future.
1:13
Speaker 1: And it's not like the last time he was dropped
1:16
Speaker 1: where he was able to go back to the Sheffield Shield,
1:19
Speaker 1: score bulk runs, and get his way back into the team.
1:21
Speaker 1: The bar to get back into the team will now
1:23
Speaker 1: be higher than it was previously because he's shown that
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Speaker 1: in batting well in the Sheffield Shield, it wasn't enough.
1:29
Speaker 1: He needs to show more this time around. And there's
1:31
Speaker 1: also just no time. There's only going to be two
1:34
Speaker 1: Shield matches. Well, there's three Shield matches before the first
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Speaker 1: test against New Zealand, probably only two before the squad
1:40
Speaker 1: is named. So unless he gets four centuries, it's probably
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Speaker 1: he's not going to have time to get back for
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Speaker 1: the New Zealand series. And then the series in India
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Speaker 1: begins while the Big Bash.
1:49
Speaker 3: Is still on. So there's no Shield cricket at all.
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Speaker 1: So I just, I can't see a way that Manus
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Speaker 1: Labashain is even on the plane to India either.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's going to be... It's interesting. We'll touch on that.
2:00
Speaker 2: I suspect he probably will be on the plane to India,
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Speaker 2: all things being equal, assuming we get somewhat of a
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Speaker 2: return from him at domestic level. But certainly for the
2:07
Speaker 2: New Zealand series, I find it very, very unlikely that
2:10
Speaker 2: we'll see him there. I think with him, we've seen
2:13
Speaker 2: him go back last summer after being dropped in the
2:15
Speaker 2: West Indies, which we've spoken about before. He made those
2:17
Speaker 2: bulk runs and earned his way back into the team.
2:20
Speaker 2: I think the fact that we've seen him do that before,
2:22
Speaker 2: but he still had these failings at test level, as
2:25
Speaker 2: you said, it makes the bar higher. much higher for
2:27
Speaker 2: him to come in under those circumstances. So from my position,
2:30
Speaker 2: I would like to see him just have a full
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Speaker 2: domestic season or as much as he can.
2:33
Speaker 3: Play up until the Tour of India.
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Speaker 2: I think his experience, his leadership, the fact that he's
2:38
Speaker 2: been there before, I think they're all probably factors that
2:40
Speaker 2: could see him on the plane to India. Now, that's
2:43
Speaker 2: not necessarily saying that he'll be in the starting 11
2:45
Speaker 2: because hopefully if he does have a replacement this summer,
2:48
Speaker 2: we see them make a lot of runs and There
2:49
Speaker 2: are certainly some options there that we can talk about
2:52
Speaker 2: as a replacement for him at number three. But I
2:54
Speaker 2: think for now, as I said, the foreseeable future, we'd
2:56
Speaker 2: like to see him in Sheffield Shield cricket. Because he's
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Speaker 2: done it before, has come back in, and it hasn't
3:01
Speaker 2: worked out well, I suspect they'll want a longer stint
3:03
Speaker 2: with better form from him before they reconsider him again
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Speaker 2: in the starting 11 for Australia.
3:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's take a look at the contenders to replace him.
3:10
Speaker 1: We'll start with the man that's in form, and that
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Speaker 1: is Queensland's Jack Clayton, and he's going to join us
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Speaker 1: shortly on Domesticated, so it'll be great to hear from him.
3:17
Speaker 1: A century 104 he got against Victoria at the Gabba.
3:22
Speaker 1: Great to have a man in form. It's been a
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Speaker 1: bit of a slow build for Jack Clayton. He's been
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Speaker 1: around the traps for six or seven years. At the
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Speaker 1: end of the 24-25 Shield season, he got 100 in
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Speaker 1: that Shield final, and that was when we thought he
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Speaker 1: might be the next guy. He struggled a little bit
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Speaker 1: more last summer. He was outside the top 20 Shield
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Speaker 1: run scorers. He had an injury, so he missed a
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Speaker 1: few games. But coming back this summer, he looks a
3:45
Speaker 1: better player. He looks as good as he has looked,
3:47
Speaker 1: and he may well find himself on pole position potentially
3:50
Speaker 1: for a replacement for Marnus Labuschak.
3:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely.
3:55
Speaker 2: So he debuted, for those a little bit unfamiliar with Jack,
3:58
Speaker 2: he debuted back in 2022 as a 22-year-old. He made
4:01
Speaker 2: a Shield 100 on debut for the Bulls, batting at
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Speaker 2: number four. And we thought, wow, he's certainly burst onto
4:06
Speaker 2: the scene. He's been a very consistent performer. He's never
4:08
Speaker 2: had those huge seasons where he's averaged 50 or 60.
4:12
Speaker 2: And we know that's quite hard to come by now
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Speaker 2: at Sheffield Shield level. The pitches in the last few
4:16
Speaker 2: years haven't been as accommodating for batsmen as they have
4:18
Speaker 2: been before.
4:19
Speaker 3: But yeah, he's the man in form.
4:21
Speaker 2: He's got the most recent century into the Sheffield Shield
4:24
Speaker 2: for many of the contenders that we believe could take
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Speaker 2: Marnus Labuschagne's spot in the test team. That 104 he
4:29
Speaker 2: made against Victoria wasn't an easy knock. He was the
4:31
Speaker 2: only one that made above 36, I think, for Queensland
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Speaker 2: in that first inning. So he certainly did all he could.
4:37
Speaker 2: He's making runs at the right time, which is all
4:39
Speaker 2: you can really ask. As you said, he did have
4:41
Speaker 2: a little bit of a lull, but he has been
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Speaker 2: generally consistent, averaging between 30 and 40. And obviously this season,
4:47
Speaker 2: he's got another couple of half centuries under his belt
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Speaker 2: as well, which certainly helped his cause. He's very compact.
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Speaker 2: He's a good number four. The question around Jack will
4:56
Speaker 2: probably come as to where he would bat in the
4:58
Speaker 2: Australian team. if he was to come into the team.
5:00
Speaker 2: He hasn't batted a whole lot at number three for Queensland.
5:02
Speaker 2: He's very much been a middle-order bat. So there might
5:05
Speaker 2: be some reshuffling again if they were to make him
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Speaker 2: his way into the team. But he's certainly making runs
5:10
Speaker 2: at the right time. And he's a mature head. He's
5:12
Speaker 2: in the mid-late 20s of his career. So you can't
5:15
Speaker 2: ask much more from someone.
5:16
Speaker 3: As I said, he's making runs at the right time.
5:18
Speaker 3: We'll hear from him shortly.
5:20
Speaker 1: The New South Wales contenders, Curtis Patterson and Sam Constance,
5:23
Speaker 1: both had a difficult match in Tasmania. New South Wales
5:27
Speaker 1: had a difficult match, routed by Tasmania.
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Speaker 3: They lost by an innings.
5:31
Speaker 1: Excellent performance from the Tigers down there in Hobart. Patterson
5:34
Speaker 1: and Constance, they've both got centuries in this Shield season.
5:37
Speaker 1: You look at that New South Wales top four, it's
5:39
Speaker 1: Ollie Davies opening, who got a 200 in the first
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Speaker 1: Shield game. Sam Constance, Curtis Patterson, and then Nick Maddison
5:45
Speaker 1: at four, who's just coming from the Test squad. Yet
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Speaker 1: the four of them, not one of them made 20
5:51
Speaker 1: across both innings against Tasmania.
5:53
Speaker 3: So a missed opportunity for them. Yeah, absolutely.
5:57
Speaker 2: It looked like a pretty tough deck to bat on
5:59
Speaker 2: from a New South Wales perspective. The Tassie boys managed
6:01
Speaker 2: to get a little bit out of it with the bat,
6:03
Speaker 2: but it was a pretty comprehensive defeat they had down
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Speaker 2: there at Belle Reve Oval. As you said, Curtis Patterson
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Speaker 2: and Sam Constis there, probably the two at the moment
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Speaker 2: who are right in the frame. Curtis has that experience.
6:12
Speaker 2: Constis has been out of the team for a little
6:15
Speaker 2: bit now, a couple of summers, and he's had his
6:17
Speaker 2: technical flaws, so to speak, but he's certainly been able
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Speaker 2: to match his aggression that we saw at test level
6:23
Speaker 2: and with the composed nature of of his bang that
6:25
Speaker 2: we saw him get to that point where he was
6:27
Speaker 2: considered and selected against India on Boxing Day a couple
6:29
Speaker 2: of years ago. So Constance obviously had two big scores
6:32
Speaker 2: at the WACA not too long ago. Curtis Patterson had
6:35
Speaker 2: a nice Shield 100 to start his season. They both
6:37
Speaker 2: have 100 and 150 next to their name in the
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Speaker 2: Shield season so far. Constance also has a white ball 100,
6:43
Speaker 2: a big score. I think it was 149 or 147
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Speaker 2: he made against WA not that long ago, only a
6:45
Speaker 2: couple of weeks ago too. So making a lot of runs. Again,
6:52
Speaker 2: Constance probably has that same question as Jack Clayton, where
6:55
Speaker 2: if he comes into the team, it probably isn't number
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Speaker 2: three that he bats, which requires another reshuffle from the selectors,
7:00
Speaker 2: whereas Curtis is an experienced head, and importantly, he does
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Speaker 2: bat number three for New South Wales and has done
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Speaker 2: for quite some time. He's gone through highs and lows
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Speaker 2: during his career at shield level. He was dropped as
7:11
Speaker 2: New South Wales captain a few seasons ago.
7:13
Speaker 3: He's come back from that. He's managed to make runs.
7:16
Speaker 2: As you said, both of them missed out in a
7:18
Speaker 2: pretty crucial clash against Tassie last week. But now they
7:22
Speaker 2: have a great opportunity next week to make some runs
7:25
Speaker 2: against South Australia, which is where another one of the
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Speaker 2: contenders might be coming from, Justin.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, Nathan McSweeney right in the frame just on that
7:32
Speaker 1: Tasmania game. It was great to see Jackson Bird ripping in.
7:34
Speaker 1: nearly 40 and still doing it so well. His test
7:38
Speaker 1: days are beyond him, but it's just great to see
7:41
Speaker 1: an old veteran doing some great things, a wily medium pacer. Now,
7:45
Speaker 1: Patterson and McSweeney, if it comes down to a 50-50
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Speaker 1: between Patterson and McSweeney, I get the feeling they'll go
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Speaker 1: with McSweeney just because of his age. That's what I
7:54
Speaker 1: think with Patterson is that he has to be the
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Speaker 1: sort of head and shoulders above candidate at the moment,
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Speaker 1: because if it's a 50-50 between Patterson and Clayton or
8:01
Speaker 1: Patterson and Constance, I get the feeling selectors will go
8:04
Speaker 1: with the younger player, but Patterson's got two Shield matches
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Speaker 1: to make himself the head and shoulders candidate. He can
8:08
Speaker 1: absolutely do that. Nathan McSweeney, unlike Patterson and Constance, hasn't
8:13
Speaker 1: got 100 yet this Shield summer. He got 66 against
8:17
Speaker 1: WA in the most recent Shield round. He probably needs
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Speaker 1: a big 100 to really make the case, and a
8:22
Speaker 1: big 100 probably puts him to the front of the queue.
8:25
Speaker 3: That's how I'm seeing him at the moment. How are
8:27
Speaker 3: you seeing him?
8:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, similar to Justin. He did have a couple of hundreds.
8:32
Speaker 2: He had one in the white ball recently for South
8:34
Speaker 2: Australia and also one in India for Australia A in
8:37
Speaker 2: a 50-over game. So he has made runs, different format,
8:40
Speaker 2: different ball, different situation, but he has been able to
8:42
Speaker 2: get those scores semi-recently. But as you said, I think
8:45
Speaker 2: this next round is going to be super important and
8:47
Speaker 2: it will really dictate, I think, where these guys fall
8:50
Speaker 2: for the... Most part, you could probably throw a blanket
8:53
Speaker 2: over these four, Clayton, Constance, Patterson and McSweeney. I think
8:57
Speaker 2: the other thing with McSweeney is he really was given
8:59
Speaker 2: a baptism of fire when he did play against India
9:01
Speaker 2: a couple of seasons ago. He was ultimately the reason
9:04
Speaker 2: why Sam Constance played in that India series and opened.
9:07
Speaker 2: He was batting out of position as an opener. He's
9:09
Speaker 2: traditionally a number three or a number four for South Australia.
9:11
Speaker 2: He's an investment that Cricket Australia made. It didn't quite
9:14
Speaker 2: pay off, as I think a lot of us saw yesterday.
9:16
Speaker 2: at the time and sort of predicted, but he's a
9:18
Speaker 2: mature head. He also is South Australia's captain, so he's
9:21
Speaker 2: going to bring leadership qualities and a little bit of
9:23
Speaker 2: experience on that front. He also bowls handy off-spin. Not
9:25
Speaker 2: that the Australian team needs too much of that at
9:27
Speaker 2: the moment with Matt Renshaw in the team and Travis Head,
9:30
Speaker 2: but it's another... Another option in the field for the skipper.
9:34
Speaker 2: So yeah, I think I'd probably have Patterson just ahead
9:36
Speaker 2: of him at the moment, just because he doesn't have
9:38
Speaker 2: that Red Bull 100 in the last couple of months.
9:40
Speaker 2: But he's an investment that Cricket Australia made. And I
9:43
Speaker 2: think he's someone that a lot of people will expect
9:45
Speaker 2: to be in Australia colours at some point in the
9:48
Speaker 2: coming years. He's of a great age as well, similar
9:50
Speaker 2: to Clayton, 26, 27. So there's a lot to like
9:52
Speaker 2: with him. But yeah, runs are going to be the
9:54
Speaker 2: most important currency the next couple of seasons, the next
9:57
Speaker 2: couple of matches, sorry, because there isn't one person who's
10:00
Speaker 2: standing out way ahead of the rest of the pack.
10:02
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think those four that we've mentioned, Patterson, Constance,
10:05
Speaker 1: Clayton and McSweeney are the top bracket. They're the four
10:08
Speaker 1: best chances, but there still could be room for others
10:11
Speaker 1: with these two shield games to go. I want to
10:12
Speaker 1: touch on the three Victorians coming into the summer this
10:15
Speaker 1: There was a lot of hope for these three players,
10:17
Speaker 1: Campbell Kelleway, Ollie Peake and Pete Hanscom. I thought Kelleway
10:20
Speaker 1: at the start of the summer would be the closest
10:23
Speaker 1: to competing for a place at the top of the
10:24
Speaker 1: order for this summer. Peake, I think, is the player
10:27
Speaker 1: with the most potential, but he's 20, so there's no
10:30
Speaker 1: rush on him. And Hanscom, as a veteran, I was
10:33
Speaker 1: looking at him for the India tour because he certainly
10:35
Speaker 1: seemed to be a specialist against spin. He was taken
10:39
Speaker 1: on the Australia A tour to India just recently for
10:41
Speaker 1: that reason. But those three, you know, they've been OK.
10:45
Speaker 1: Callaway's been OK a couple of half centuries, probably lacking
10:47
Speaker 1: that big century to really press his claim. Peake, there's
10:50
Speaker 1: a future there. There's no rush on him. He'll be
10:52
Speaker 1: in the white ball games coming up for Australia against England,
10:54
Speaker 1: so there's no rush there. Hanscom's been really out of form,
10:57
Speaker 1: hasn't reached 50 for either Australia A or Victoria this summer.
11:01
Speaker 3: So of those three Victorians.
11:03
Speaker 1: I think Kelleway is the most likely to compete for
11:06
Speaker 1: this place, but I think he probably needs 100 in
11:09
Speaker 1: the next Shield game or two to really make a
11:11
Speaker 1: case to selectors.
11:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, he would have to be a late-surge bolter, I think, Kelleway.
11:18
Speaker 2: I think the thing I like about Kelleway, so Sam
11:20
Speaker 2: Constance has five first-class centuries and he's obviously 21 years
11:23
Speaker 2: of age. The next closest under the age of 25
11:26
Speaker 2: is Kelleway, who has three first-class hundreds. And one other
11:29
Speaker 2: name who I think we might touch on in a sec, Justin,
11:32
Speaker 2: also has three. But Kelleway is someone who's versatile in
11:34
Speaker 2: that top order. I think Constance, as we were speaking
11:36
Speaker 2: about before, he's... a specialist opener, whereas Kelleway can bat
11:40
Speaker 2: as an opener or he can bat three or four
11:41
Speaker 2: as well. He's floated between that top order for Victoria.
11:45
Speaker 2: He'll play for Australia. There's no doubt about that at
11:47
Speaker 2: some point during his career. But as you said, he's
11:49
Speaker 2: just lacked that really big score. A couple of red
11:51
Speaker 2: ball half-centuries, one white ball half-century for Victoria this spring.
11:55
Speaker 2: So he's been there or thereabouts, but he doesn't have
11:57
Speaker 2: that same compelling push as the names that we've just
11:59
Speaker 2: spoken about before, all of which who have either had
12:02
Speaker 2: Australia experience or have made hundreds so far this spring.
12:04
Speaker 3: So I'd have him certainly.
12:06
Speaker 2: At the top of that crop, Hanscom, as you mentioned,
12:08
Speaker 2: he's had 10 first-class innings so far in the last
12:10
Speaker 2: couple of months, and he hasn't passed 39 on any
12:13
Speaker 2: of them. So I actually think now he's probably going
12:14
Speaker 2: to be a bit of a stretch to even be
12:15
Speaker 2: on that India tour, even though he's seen as someone
12:18
Speaker 2: who plays spin particularly well in our first-class scene. And
12:21
Speaker 2: Oli Peake, as you said, there's no rush. We're not
12:23
Speaker 2: expecting him to play this test summer, particularly for the
12:25
Speaker 2: fact that he'll miss some of those first-class games leading
12:28
Speaker 2: up to that series because of this white ball situation.
12:30
Speaker 2: series against England so it probably hamstrings him a little
12:32
Speaker 2: bit in that regard to try and make a push
12:34
Speaker 2: for the test team and he's obviously more of a
12:37
Speaker 2: middle-order bat I think particularly at his age I don't
12:38
Speaker 2: think he's someone you particularly want to be throwing into
12:40
Speaker 2: the into the furnace at number three even though he
12:43
Speaker 2: has been batting there recently for Victoria I think he's
12:45
Speaker 2: yeah definitely the long-term prospect and as you said there's
12:48
Speaker 2: no rush on him but I would say that's the
12:49
Speaker 2: state of play with the three Victorians down here in
12:51
Speaker 2: Melbourne and.
12:52
Speaker 1: If there is to be a smoky for this test
12:55
Speaker 1: place or a roughy in Melbourne Cup parlance it's Jadon
12:58
Speaker 1: Goodwin out of WA who's just come off 100 against
13:02
Speaker 1: South Australia 106 he made he's 24 years old and
13:07
Speaker 1: another one another century this week or in the next
13:10
Speaker 1: Shield game that could put him right in the frame
13:14
Speaker 1: coming out of nowhere but he's in the right form
13:17
Speaker 1: any 100 is a good 100 at this stage.
13:21
Speaker 2: We have seen selectors lean towards those who make runs
13:23
Speaker 2: at the absolute right time. And yeah, if Goodwin was
13:25
Speaker 2: to get another century in these next round or two
13:28
Speaker 2: in the Sheffield Shield, it might put him as a
13:29
Speaker 2: real bolter. I probably don't have him in that conversation
13:32
Speaker 2: just yet, but as I alluded to before, he is
13:34
Speaker 2: that third player under the age of 25 in the
13:36
Speaker 2: Sheffield Shield at the moment who has three or more
13:39
Speaker 2: first-class century. So him and Kelleway have three and Constance,
13:41
Speaker 2: as we said before, has five. He's a nuggety little
13:44
Speaker 2: left-hander out of Western Australia. He's very compact in his
13:48
Speaker 2: technique and he's got that patience as well. He didn't
13:50
Speaker 2: play a whole lot of first-class cricket last season. He
13:53
Speaker 2: was sort of in and out of Western Australia's side,
13:55
Speaker 2: but he seems to have taken his chances so far
13:57
Speaker 2: this summer. He had a 67 not too long ago
13:59
Speaker 2: before his 108 against South Australia.
14:01
Speaker 3: So.
14:02
Speaker 2: A lot to like there from his perspective, but I
14:05
Speaker 2: think he's probably just almost half a step back from
14:07
Speaker 2: where we might see Kelleway. But we like talking about smoke.
14:10
Speaker 2: As you said, Melbourne Cup's just gone. That's a word
14:12
Speaker 2: that gets thrown around a fair bit this.
14:13
Speaker 3: Time of year. So he's certainly in that bracket.
14:16
Speaker 1: He was in a big partnership with Cameron Bancroft, who
14:19
Speaker 1: met 186 in that game. Look, we know Cameron Bancroft
14:23
Speaker 1: is unlikely to go back to the Test team. He's
14:27
Speaker 1: had more experience at that level than basically everybody we've
14:30
Speaker 1: spoken about, with the exception of Labashane, and he hasn't
14:32
Speaker 1: been able to do it.
14:33
Speaker 3: It's great to see him in the runs, 186.
14:35
Speaker 1: It's a huge score, but turning 34 this month, you
14:38
Speaker 1: would say a path back to the Australian Test team
14:40
Speaker 1: for him is pretty unlikely unless he puts on some
14:44
Speaker 1: huge scores and makes the case undeniable.
14:49
Speaker 2: Yeah i think so i think unfortunately for cameron he
14:51
Speaker 2: was probably the one person i would have been absolutely
14:53
Speaker 2: dying to have in the australian test team when david
14:55
Speaker 2: warner retired we saw steve smith go up to the
14:57
Speaker 2: top of the order and we've seen the chain reaction
14:59
Speaker 2: that's happened from there and he was making a lot
15:01
Speaker 2: of runs at that time unfortunately he wasn't selected and
15:03
Speaker 2: i think when he's averaging you know i think he
15:05
Speaker 2: was averaging around 70 in the sheffield shield at that
15:07
Speaker 2: point and he was still getting turned down so i
15:09
Speaker 2: As you said, it's quite hard to see him in
15:10
Speaker 2: the frame. It was great to see him make a big,
15:12
Speaker 2: big 100 against South Australia in the All-Ireland Oval. It
15:15
Speaker 2: was his first 100 in 364 days in the Red
15:18
Speaker 2: Bull format. He went a whole winter in the county
15:21
Speaker 2: championship without 100, and I think it was 41 innings
15:24
Speaker 2: it had been. So it was good to see him
15:26
Speaker 2: break that drought and back in the runs and really
15:28
Speaker 2: make it count and start again after he got to 100.
15:30
Speaker 2: So a little while back for him, and it would
15:32
Speaker 2: have to be, I think, an opening game. that would
15:34
Speaker 2: become available and he'd have to bang the door down authoritatively.
15:38
Speaker 2: But I don't think that's for him at the moment.
15:39
Speaker 2: But as you said, it's great to see him back
15:40
Speaker 2: in the runs and he's someone who's had Australian experience before.
15:43
Speaker 1: Lots of contenders for that place in Australia's top order.
15:47
Speaker 1: So it makes for a fascinating couple of rounds of
15:50
Speaker 1: Shield cricket coming up. Now on to the bowlers, and
15:53
Speaker 1: it looks as though the bowler under the most pressure
15:55
Speaker 1: is Nathan Lyon at the moment for the first time
15:58
Speaker 1: in a long time.
15:58
Speaker 3: He's, in the last two years, he has been.
16:02
Speaker 1: not selected because of conditions when Australia have gone with
16:05
Speaker 1: four quicks. Now, I wonder if there is a case
16:08
Speaker 1: that Nathan Lyon may not be selected on form. Simon Harmer,
16:13
Speaker 1: of course, had an extra day in the wicket, days
16:15
Speaker 1: where in the wicket when he was bowling on day
16:17
Speaker 1: five compared to Lyon on day four. But Simon Harmer
16:20
Speaker 1: looked vastly more threatening. And I wonder if Nathan Lyon's
16:24
Speaker 1: spot in the Australian Test team is safe for this summer.
16:28
Speaker 1: And it comes at a time with an Indian tour
16:31
Speaker 1: around the corner where you need your spinner. The spinner
16:34
Speaker 1: is basically your most important player. It's an interesting time
16:37
Speaker 1: at the moment for Nathan Lyon, isn't it?
16:39
Speaker 3: Nearing 40. Yeah, it is.
16:43
Speaker 2: He's certainly in the twilight of his career. There's certainly
16:45
Speaker 2: no mistake about that. It's really interesting. I don't want
16:47
Speaker 2: to say that he's on the precipice of being dropped
16:49
Speaker 2: or under too much pressure. I find this more just
16:52
Speaker 2: a really hard one to get a read on as
16:53
Speaker 2: to where he sits, whether it's more of a case
16:56
Speaker 2: of trying to have a look at the next... of spinners,
16:59
Speaker 2: and we do have options. We have Matt Cooneman, who's
17:01
Speaker 2: someone who's been very, very close, held closely in that
17:04
Speaker 2: Australian Test squad for a couple of years now since
17:06
Speaker 2: he debuted in India. The last two there we had
17:09
Speaker 2: in 2023. Todd Murphy's of a very similar vein, and
17:11
Speaker 2: Corey Rocacholi, who is probably the most like-for-like option for
17:15
Speaker 2: Nathan Lyon, also is an off-spinner and bowls a little
17:17
Speaker 2: bit more over the top of the ball, opposed to
17:18
Speaker 2: that side spin that we see from Cooneman and Murphy.
17:21
Speaker 3: So.
17:22
Speaker 2: It's very, very interesting as to where we get a
17:25
Speaker 2: read from. I'm actually really struggling to sort of work
17:27
Speaker 2: out where he sits at the moment, Justin. I think
17:29
Speaker 2: the reluctance to play him in a couple of more
17:32
Speaker 2: more same friendly conditions. We've seen that three times now
17:34
Speaker 2: in roughly 12 months, maybe just over in the West
17:37
Speaker 2: Indies and a paintball test in Brisbane. And now obviously
17:40
Speaker 2: in South Africa in that second test, just gone. He
17:42
Speaker 2: probably didn't look very threatening in that third innings when
17:45
Speaker 2: he Ryan Rickleton and Rian Mulder really put on the
17:47
Speaker 2: runs and put South Africa back in box position against Australia.
17:51
Speaker 3: He was able to hold.
17:52
Speaker 2: Down an end, but he didn't look like taking a
17:54
Speaker 2: wicket for the best part of his spell, and he
17:55
Speaker 2: did bowl quite a bit. So I don't want to
17:58
Speaker 2: judge him too harshly on just one instance, but that
18:01
Speaker 2: was probably a sign where, hey, like... the selectors have
18:03
Speaker 2: been a little bit reluctant to pick him in conditions
18:05
Speaker 2: where he believes he'd be able to get the most
18:07
Speaker 2: out of it. And that was a pitch where I
18:08
Speaker 2: think we thought it was quite dry. He would be
18:10
Speaker 2: able to get a little bit more turn or wicket-taking opportunities,
18:14
Speaker 2: and he didn't quite have that. So he's probably on
18:17
Speaker 2: notice heading into this test summer, but I would be
18:20
Speaker 2: pretty surprised if we didn't see him come that first
18:22
Speaker 2: test against New Zealand this summer.
18:23
Speaker 1: Yeah, India's the priority for me when it comes to
18:26
Speaker 1: Nathan Lyon. It wouldn't bother me if they sat him
18:29
Speaker 1: out of the entire New Zealand series and said, look,
18:31
Speaker 1: you've got one test... The most important test tour for
18:34
Speaker 1: a spinner is coming up.
18:35
Speaker 3: It's in India. You might.
18:36
Speaker 1: Even if Nathan Lyon is Australia's third spinner, he might
18:39
Speaker 1: still play, because that's what you do in India. You
18:42
Speaker 1: sometimes play three spinners in the 111. So that should
18:45
Speaker 1: be the focus for me for Nathan Lyon. You know,
18:47
Speaker 1: he might play the Adelaide Oval Test for the summer.
18:50
Speaker 1: He might play at the MCG if it's flat. Maybe
18:51
Speaker 1: the SCG, although... the SCG as a spinners pitch is
18:55
Speaker 1: probably an idea of a couple of decades ago. But
18:58
Speaker 1: the priority for Nathan Lyon needs to be that India
19:01
Speaker 1: tour for me. I think Australia are more likely to
19:04
Speaker 1: win that Indian series with Nathan Lyon in the team
19:07
Speaker 1: rather than outside the team. And that needs to be
19:09
Speaker 1: the focus. And if it means he only plays one
19:12
Speaker 1: test this summer, so be it. The focus needs to
19:15
Speaker 1: be India.
19:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hard to argue with that.
19:20
Speaker 2: As you said, the India series is a legacy-defining series
19:23
Speaker 2: for him as a player, as it is with a
19:25
Speaker 2: few of the pace bowlers and Steve Smith as well.
19:27
Speaker 2: Those guys who have been there multiple times and haven't
19:30
Speaker 2: quite been able to get it done. As you said,
19:32
Speaker 2: he's certainly going to be better in the team for
19:33
Speaker 2: Australia than out of it. And sometimes we're playing three
19:36
Speaker 2: spinners over in India. So he's certainly someone you want
19:38
Speaker 2: in your team. But is this the summer where we
19:40
Speaker 2: have a look at maybe what the next generation looks like?
19:43
Speaker 3: Of all those positions we've spoken.
19:44
Speaker 2: About through the fast bowling department, the likes of Steve
19:47
Speaker 2: Smith and Nathan Lyon, he probably is the most vulnerable
19:49
Speaker 2: in that situation.
19:51
Speaker 3: Relative to the rest of the players.
19:53
Speaker 1: Fascinating time coming up in Australian cricket. Coming up, we
19:56
Speaker 1: speak to the man in form in the Sheffield Shield,
19:59
Speaker 1: Jack Clayton. Well, he's the in form man in the
20:02
Speaker 1: Sheffield Shield, fresh off his 100 against Victoria.
20:05
Speaker 3: Jack Clayton joins us. Jack, thanks so much for joining us.
20:08
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me on, Justin.
20:10
Speaker 1: 100 against a pretty good Victorian attack. Will Sutherland, Fergus O'Neill,
20:14
Speaker 1: Todd Murphy among them. Must have been happy with the
20:16
Speaker 1: way you were batting.
20:18
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it was obviously nice to get the 100,
20:21
Speaker 4: but also important innings in the game situation just to
20:26
Speaker 4: get us to a competitive total in that first innings
20:29
Speaker 4: was the pleasing thing. And then obviously we set the
20:32
Speaker 4: game up pretty nicely. Our bowls bowled beautifully in that
20:34
Speaker 4: second innings, but... The rain got the better of us
20:37
Speaker 4: and we weren't able to finish off the game, but
20:39
Speaker 4: I felt like we were in a pretty good position
20:41
Speaker 4: to try and win that game late on day four.
20:47
Speaker 2: Jack, congratulations on your seventh first-class ton. Great to have
20:51
Speaker 2: you with us. Walk us through, you were on 99
20:53
Speaker 2: heading into stumps on day two, I think it was.
20:56
Speaker 2: How did you feel heading into that last over and,
20:58
Speaker 2: you know, speak us through the emotions for the next
21:00
Speaker 2: 12 to 18 hours? Not the greatest score to finish on.
21:04
Speaker 2: Maybe a few nerves heading into day three?
21:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's... Well, we kind of went on a bit
21:12
Speaker 4: further than I expected in the day because the umpire
21:15
Speaker 4: said that they couldn't bowl pace anymore. So I kind
21:18
Speaker 4: of expected that we were going to go off. I
21:20
Speaker 4: think I was around 90 at that point. And then
21:22
Speaker 4: they brought on Ollie Peake and kept the spin going.
21:24
Speaker 4: And I got a little bit closer then to 100
21:27
Speaker 4: than I kind of expected later in day two. And
21:31
Speaker 4: then obviously that two on the last ball of the
21:34
Speaker 4: day and then they called it for like... But I
21:38
Speaker 4: think if you gave me 99 not out at the
21:41
Speaker 4: start of the day, I'd probably take that. But yeah,
21:43
Speaker 4: didn't sleep overly well. But I don't normally sleep too
21:47
Speaker 4: well if I'm in batting. But yeah, particularly being on 99,
21:51
Speaker 4: I was running through how I was going to get
21:53
Speaker 4: my single or runs the next day, hopefully. And it
21:56
Speaker 4: probably wasn't in the form of a French cut, but
21:58
Speaker 4: you take them anyway, you can get them.
22:00
Speaker 1: Absolutely taken, Jack. It's not just the 100. You've got
22:04
Speaker 1: a couple of half centuries, few not outs, average above
22:07
Speaker 1: 70 so far in this Shield season. Do you feel
22:09
Speaker 1: as though you're batting as well as you ever have been?
22:12
Speaker 1: And if you were to get a call from the
22:13
Speaker 1: selectors that your game is in the best place it
22:16
Speaker 1: could be to potentially have a go at the higher level?
22:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's obviously been really nice to start the season
22:22
Speaker 4: well on a personal level. And I'm confident in my
22:27
Speaker 4: skills and my abilities to be able to perform. Whether
22:31
Speaker 4: or not you get that call, that's completely out of
22:33
Speaker 4: my control. But my main focus is to keep scoring
22:37
Speaker 4: runs and trying to win games for Queensland.
22:40
Speaker 2: I feel like I'm doing a pretty decent job with
22:42
Speaker 2: that at the moment.
22:43
Speaker 4: We've had an okay start to the season with a
22:46
Speaker 4: win and a loss and a draw, which could have
22:49
Speaker 4: been two wins if we had have got on for
22:53
Speaker 4: the rest of the game yesterday. But yeah, I feel
22:56
Speaker 4: like I'm batting well and I've just got to keep
22:59
Speaker 4: that going and try and win as many games for
23:01
Speaker 4: Queensland as I can.
23:06
Speaker 2: Jack, take us through with a few of the viewers
23:08
Speaker 2: as to who is Jack Clayton. You're someone who burst
23:10
Speaker 2: onto the Shield scene with 100 on debut for Queensland,
23:13
Speaker 2: which was great to see. Obviously, it's no surprise or
23:16
Speaker 2: shock that you're in the frame, being as informed as
23:20
Speaker 2: you are for this summer's Australian team. They did a
23:22
Speaker 2: little bit of digging. Justin, I were both AFL fans.
23:25
Speaker 2: You were obviously someone who was part of the Brisbane
23:26
Speaker 2: Lions Academy as a young gun.
23:28
Speaker 3: Just speak us through, I guess.
23:29
Speaker 2: Your rise to Shield cricket, your background heading in, juggling
23:32
Speaker 2: two sports when you were younger. which you're clearly very
23:35
Speaker 2: good at.
23:35
Speaker 3: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
23:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, actually, when I was 17, I gave away
23:42
Speaker 4: cricket to pursue the footy dream for a couple of
23:45
Speaker 4: years and that kind of didn't turn out the way
23:47
Speaker 4: that I wanted it to. But I also learned a
23:51
Speaker 4: lot of lessons out of that experience as well and
23:53
Speaker 4: got to do some really cool things with my footy.
23:55
Speaker 4: And then I basically just came back and wanted to
24:00
Speaker 4: play some cricket for some fun on the weekend and
24:03
Speaker 4: I was playing third grade for my local club, University
24:07
Speaker 4: of Queensland. And I was lucky to score a few
24:10
Speaker 4: runs that season and ended up getting moved into the
24:13
Speaker 4: twos just before or after Christmas and did all right
24:18
Speaker 4: in the twos that year and then got a chance
24:22
Speaker 4: in first grade the following year when Peter Forrest finished
24:26
Speaker 4: up his career. And yeah, it's kind of, you know,
24:30
Speaker 4: I never really had the intention coming back to play
24:33
Speaker 4: cricket professionally, but it kind of has just worked out
24:35
Speaker 4: that way. But I think the biggest thing for me
24:38
Speaker 4: is just enjoying it. I really enjoy playing cricket and
24:41
Speaker 4: I really enjoy batting. So yeah, that's my biggest driver
24:46
Speaker 4: is just playing. having fun doing the sport that I
24:49
Speaker 4: love playing. I'm pretty lucky I get to do a
24:55
Speaker 4: hobby as my career. So yeah, it's kind of, Always
24:59
Speaker 4: pinching myself at getting to be able to do that
25:03
Speaker 4: and live out, you know, a kind of a childhood dream,
25:06
Speaker 4: even though I never really expected to get here.
25:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a pretty cool thing to do. I, for one, Jack,
25:12
Speaker 1: certainly hope you become the first NEFL Rising Star nominee
25:15
Speaker 1: to play cricket for Australia.
25:17
Speaker 3: Tell us about your game.
25:19
Speaker 1: Looking at your innings against Victoria, You played some fabulous
25:23
Speaker 1: cut shots. I was looking at this thinking, wow, this
25:26
Speaker 1: guy's got the best cut shot in Australia. Would you
25:28
Speaker 1: say that's one of the great strengths of your game?
25:30
Speaker 1: And I'm not sure why Victoria kept bowling short and
25:32
Speaker 1: wide at you, but you kept putting them away.
25:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think square of the wicket is definitely my
25:40
Speaker 4: strength as a batter. My cut shot and my full
25:42
Speaker 4: shot are kind of my go-to shots. And honestly, I
25:47
Speaker 4: try and keep my game as simple as possible. I
25:50
Speaker 4: try and defend and leave well and build my game
25:52
Speaker 4: around my defence. And then when they put the ball
25:55
Speaker 4: in areas where I feel like I can score on
25:57
Speaker 4: particular wickets... I try and pounce on those opportunities. But yeah,
26:02
Speaker 4: my game is based around my decision-making and my defensive
26:06
Speaker 4: and leading qualities. And then hopefully I can put the
26:10
Speaker 4: pressure back on the bowler through that and then making
26:13
Speaker 4: them bowl to me. But yeah, I think for me,
26:16
Speaker 4: my square that would get shots are probably my go-to.
26:22
Speaker 2: Jack, how much experience have you had batting throughout the
26:24
Speaker 2: top of the order or the middle order of Queensland? Obviously,
26:26
Speaker 2: you've got a bit of a chokehold on the number
26:27
Speaker 2: four spot at the moment for the Bulls, and rightly so.
26:30
Speaker 2: But how much experience have you had batting either side
26:32
Speaker 2: of that number four, whether it be at three or
26:34
Speaker 2: five or six, your time at first-class cricket?
26:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've done the number three roller a few times
26:42
Speaker 4: when Minus has been away for Queensland and probably actually
26:45
Speaker 4: had one of my best games for Queensland a couple
26:48
Speaker 4: of years ago at number three. I think I scored 101.
26:51
Speaker 4: 30 in the first innings and 70 on in the second,
26:54
Speaker 4: not out before I pull my hammy, unfortunately. But the
26:59
Speaker 4: three and the four role, I think, are fairly similar.
27:03
Speaker 4: Just at the moment for our team stability, it works
27:05
Speaker 4: out nicely that I'm at four. But I don't... I
27:09
Speaker 4: have batted number three most of my life coming through
27:13
Speaker 4: juniors and then also playing for club cricket as well
27:17
Speaker 4: and then for Queensland as well. So... Like, it's not
27:20
Speaker 4: an unusual role for me to be in and one
27:23
Speaker 4: that I enjoy as well. But at the moment for
27:25
Speaker 4: our team, batting four is the role that I'm playing
27:29
Speaker 4: for Queensland.
27:30
Speaker 1: You got the endorsement from Usman Khawaja for a test
27:33
Speaker 1: place during the second test coverage here on Fox Cricket.
27:36
Speaker 1: That must be nice to have a friend in a
27:37
Speaker 1: high place like that.
27:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, that was very kind of Uzi to go on
27:44
Speaker 4: and say that. I mean, not many people had come
27:46
Speaker 4: out and said much about me in the media, but
27:49
Speaker 4: to get his backing was really kind. I know that
27:51
Speaker 4: talking to him and playing with him, I've learned so
27:55
Speaker 4: much of him as a batter, particularly just his mindset
27:58
Speaker 4: and the way that he goes about it. And he's
28:00
Speaker 4: super consistent with the way that he prepares for games
28:03
Speaker 4: and also with the way that he approaches innings as well.
28:09
Speaker 4: So he's been really helpful for me and then for
28:12
Speaker 4: him to go public and say that was really a
28:14
Speaker 4: really nice thing for him to do and I'm very
28:17
Speaker 4: thankful as well.
28:21
Speaker 3: Was he someone that you sort of look at as
28:22
Speaker 3: a bit of a mentor, Jack?
28:24
Speaker 2: Maybe there's other people inside Queensland cricket at the moment
28:26
Speaker 2: that you sort of lean on or speak to and
28:28
Speaker 2: converse with quite heavily. Was Usman that guy for you
28:31
Speaker 2: when you were first coming through the ranks?
28:35
Speaker 4: I feel like Usman was definitely one of them, but
28:37
Speaker 4: there's also other people in our organisation. Obviously, we have Marnus,
28:41
Speaker 4: who is a superb player, and also Rennes as well,
28:45
Speaker 4: who I've learned a lot of. And then we've got
28:48
Speaker 4: Jimmy Pearson as well, who's also a very experienced player
28:51
Speaker 4: that I kind of picked his brain a lot as well.
28:55
Speaker 3: And then.
28:56
Speaker 4: Wade Townsend, who's our batting coach and has been for
29:00
Speaker 4: the last four years, him and I connect really well.
29:02
Speaker 4: And he's someone that I've used a lot. And we
29:07
Speaker 4: talk every day, really, just about batting and trying to
29:10
Speaker 4: get better. So he's been a fantastic support for me
29:13
Speaker 4: as well within Queensland.
29:16
Speaker 3: You're going to, well... I'm not sure. You might know.
29:18
Speaker 1: You're probably going to have Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Renshaw
29:21
Speaker 1: back for Queensland for your next Shield game. It makes
29:24
Speaker 1: for a pretty good top four with you three taking
29:26
Speaker 1: up the three of the four places.
29:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I think Rennes just got picked in that
29:33
Speaker 4: one-day team, so I think he may be away for
29:36
Speaker 4: that next match playing for Australia, which we're all super
29:39
Speaker 4: excited for. He's been performing superbly, but it'll be fantastic
29:43
Speaker 4: to have Marnus back. We know... what a superb player
29:46
Speaker 4: he is and how good he is in domestic cricket
29:50
Speaker 4: over the last few years too. Last year, he put
29:53
Speaker 4: on quite the display with a few hundreds to start
29:55
Speaker 4: the season. So we're absolutely pumped to have him back
29:59
Speaker 4: and just the energy he brings around the group as
30:01
Speaker 4: well will be fantastic.
30:03
Speaker 3: Jack, thanks so much for joining us.
30:05
Speaker 1: Good luck for the rest of the season at whatever
30:07
Speaker 1: level cricket that is.
30:09
Speaker 3: And we hope it might be for Australia. Cheers. Thanks
30:13
Speaker 3: for having me on guys.