Latest / The Follow-On / Kurtis Patterson LIVE: NSW Captain eyes Australian Test comeback & talks One Day Cup Final + Is there an Aussie Batting Crisis? - 10/03/26

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Kurtis Patterson LIVE: NSW Captain eyes Australian Test comeback & talks One Day Cup Final + Is there an Aussie Batting Crisis? - 10/03/26 · The Follow-On

0:00
Speaker 1: With the domestic season nearing the points end, Australia's batting
0:03
Speaker 1: picture looks no clearer. Welcome to domesticated. I'm justin Edwards,
0:07
Speaker 1: Fox Crickets. Nick Savage is alongside me. Nick Jason Sanger,
0:10
Speaker 1: well done to hear he was the only century maker
0:12
Speaker 1: of the entire round. Have we got a bit of
0:15
Speaker 1: a batting crisis going on in Australia? It was a low.
0:18
Speaker 2: Scoring round, wasn't it. Most of the games wrapping up
0:20
Speaker 2: in two and a bit days. Two hundreds become a
0:22
Speaker 2: pass score. It's probably a few different factors in play,
0:25
Speaker 2: but I wouldn't call it a crisis at this stage.
0:28
Speaker 2: Although there are you know, probably a couple spots on
0:30
Speaker 2: that Test side up for grabs and no one's really
0:31
Speaker 2: taken an opportunity just yet.
0:33
Speaker 1: It does feel like that there was a chance in
0:35
Speaker 1: these matches for someone to grab a Test spot. We've
0:38
Speaker 1: talked about how we think there's only three of the
0:40
Speaker 1: top seven nailed in for those Bangladesh tests. So if
0:43
Speaker 1: someone goes with these three shield rounds and got three hundreds,
0:47
Speaker 1: the selectors may as well have Freezebee to Baggy Green
0:49
Speaker 1: to them out under the pitch. But it's just it
0:51
Speaker 1: doesn't seem to be happening for the batsman at the moment.
0:53
Speaker 2: To be fair, Sam Harper got a ninety odd to
0:55
Speaker 2: pake up his two hundreds in the previous round, so
0:57
Speaker 2: he's looking superb. He probably wasn't really in Test contention
1:01
Speaker 2: a few months ago, but after that Big Bash and
1:03
Speaker 2: this Shield form he's put himself in the equations somewhat.
1:06
Speaker 2: But no, certainly it's been very low scoring and a
1:08
Speaker 2: lot of the names that we've spoken about in the past.
1:10
Speaker 2: Jake Weatheraord missed this round, which was obviously really poor
1:13
Speaker 2: timing for him as he's trying to fight for that
1:15
Speaker 2: Test spot to keep it after the Ashes series. We're
1:18
Speaker 2: speaking to Curtis Patterson later he has had a great
1:21
Speaker 2: summer but didn't nail it this week either. So yeah,
1:24
Speaker 2: there's it just hasn't been. It's been a season for
1:27
Speaker 2: the bowlers, I suppose last few weeks has been very
1:30
Speaker 2: seem friendly and even Mitch Swepton taking a seven for
1:33
Speaker 2: in the One Day Cup recently as well. So just
1:35
Speaker 2: a chance for the balls to shine agues last few weeks,
1:37
Speaker 2: especially only six centuries since Christmas since the Big Bash break,
1:41
Speaker 2: so that's nine matches, six hundreds in nine matches. Is
1:45
Speaker 2: we expect more from that from our bowlers, from our batsman?
1:48
Speaker 2: And I've done some more numbers. There have been thirty
1:51
Speaker 2: two centuries so far this season with a full round
1:54
Speaker 2: and the final of course to come.
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Speaker 1: Compare that to last year. Last year's season finished with
1:59
Speaker 1: fifty hundreds. That was a lot. That was a lot
2:02
Speaker 1: considering the three seasons before before or forty four, thirty
2:06
Speaker 1: nine and forty two, so around the forty mark. I
2:08
Speaker 1: don't think we're going to get to the forty mark
2:10
Speaker 1: this year. But then I had a look beause everyone
2:12
Speaker 1: tells me, oh, the batsmen not a same as they
2:14
Speaker 1: were twenty years ago. So how to look at the
2:16
Speaker 1: corresponding seasons twenty years ago five oh six there were
2:19
Speaker 1: fifty five centuries, four oh five sixty one and three
2:24
Speaker 1: oh four seventy six. Now, I'm not in the camp
2:27
Speaker 1: of people will tell you, oh, the batsmen were just
2:30
Speaker 1: so much better them. I'm not in that camp. And
2:33
Speaker 1: you tell me that all the bowlers are so much
2:34
Speaker 1: better now than they were back then, I don't believe that.
2:37
Speaker 1: But I think there is a circumstances have been created
2:41
Speaker 1: where centuries are harder to get, which can be a
2:44
Speaker 1: good thing because you can put greater value on the
2:47
Speaker 1: century makers. But in terms of just actually grinding them
2:51
Speaker 1: out and having guys finish with a thousand runs in
2:54
Speaker 1: a shield season, it doesn't seem to be happening anymore,
2:57
Speaker 1: and I wonder whether that's a good thing We've created
3:00
Speaker 1: in an environment that's actually too difficult for the batsman
3:03
Speaker 1: now and it might be more replicated, It might replicate
3:07
Speaker 1: better some Test wickets that are finishing in two days
3:10
Speaker 1: in Australia. But you know, we had an Ashes series
3:12
Speaker 1: where only it was smith Head and Carey were the
3:14
Speaker 1: only ones that got hundreds. Yes, they won four to one.
3:17
Speaker 1: But I wonder if the shield system at the moment
3:20
Speaker 1: is just not quite where we need it to be.
3:22
Speaker 1: It's perhaps gone too far the other direction and it's
3:24
Speaker 1: too helpful for bowlers.
3:26
Speaker 2: I think you make an important point where the low
3:28
Speaker 2: scores have also translated to Test cricket. We've seen the
3:30
Speaker 2: last four or five years a lot of short Test matches,
3:32
Speaker 2: low scoring Test matches. The top three for Australia in
3:35
Speaker 2: that period have struggled consistently consistently, with the exception of
3:39
Speaker 2: Trapper's Head this summer. And I suppose if you look
3:42
Speaker 2: at the conditions that have been presented, the.
3:44
Speaker 1: Big one is obviously the ball change.
3:45
Speaker 2: I think it was in twenty twenty one that the
3:47
Speaker 2: kukabara out of the extra layer of lacquet to the ball.
3:50
Speaker 2: It's a more pronounced seam. It's somewhat replicating the conditions
3:54
Speaker 2: we see in the UK a little bit more. We'll
3:57
Speaker 2: also now have pinkball Shield games back US couple of seasons,
4:01
Speaker 2: which obviously have lower scoring bawler friendly conditions. Again, so
4:06
Speaker 2: I think's actually really good thing because designs replicate what
4:09
Speaker 2: we've seen the Test arena more because it's low scoring
4:11
Speaker 2: Test matches. The top three have been struggling. We want
4:14
Speaker 2: to see people in similar conditions working hard to get
4:16
Speaker 2: through that tough period and then hopefully translating the twenties
4:20
Speaker 2: and thirties into bigger scores. That's what the national selectors
4:23
Speaker 2: are looking for and we just need a couple of
4:25
Speaker 2: players to do so and step up.
4:27
Speaker 1: It is a good point you make with the conditions.
4:30
Speaker 1: I also think the new points format in the Sheffield
4:34
Speaker 1: Shield has an impact. It used to be that first
4:37
Speaker 1: innings points were so important, so teams if the team
4:40
Speaker 1: batting first got six hundred or the team batting second
4:42
Speaker 1: just had to go out and get six hundred and one.
4:44
Speaker 1: Now with the bonus points system, it's not quite as
4:48
Speaker 1: simple as that, but you are getting far more low totals.
4:51
Speaker 1: So twenty one times this season a team's been bold
4:54
Speaker 1: out for under one hundred and eighty, right, and you
4:56
Speaker 1: compare that to only nine times has there been a
4:59
Speaker 1: four hundred plus score. I would think that should be
5:02
Speaker 1: a little closer to even. That's heavily in favor of
5:05
Speaker 1: the bowlers, especially been bought out for one hundred and eighty,
5:08
Speaker 1: that's a poor score. And then he add that Tasmani
5:11
Speaker 1: or bought out for ninety one in this round by
5:13
Speaker 1: Victoria and Queensland were six for forty four against Wa.
5:17
Speaker 1: They got saved by the Rain. I wonder, Yeah, the
5:20
Speaker 1: points system has done good things. That has made the
5:23
Speaker 1: games more exciting. I think maybe on the picture some
5:26
Speaker 1: of the pitches we've seen, especially at the Gabber, have
5:28
Speaker 1: been these green seamers. And maybe we going into South
5:33
Speaker 1: Africa in October and Bangladeshi in August, we go look
5:37
Speaker 1: head to the ashes those wickets are flat now in England.
5:41
Speaker 1: Maybe we need next summer some flatter wickets might be
5:44
Speaker 1: a little better.
5:45
Speaker 2: I think the whole the pitches across the show have
5:48
Speaker 2: been okay. I think it's fair to say, but they
5:50
Speaker 2: have obviously been some glaring issues at Shield level. Have
5:53
Speaker 2: been a couple of pitches they just haven't been up
5:54
Speaker 2: to scratch. And then obviously the mcg boxing Day Test,
5:58
Speaker 2: Matt Paigeon's team just got that wrong Nutunately, it happens.
6:00
Speaker 2: Everyone's allowed to make mistakes. Just as cricketers make mistakes.
6:03
Speaker 2: Curators are allowed to occasionally make mistakes as well. I
6:07
Speaker 2: think you make a good point about the ashes. They
6:08
Speaker 2: are not going to be spicy decks over in the UK.
6:11
Speaker 2: We know the basball formula now it's been reported on
6:14
Speaker 2: to death. We know they're going to be flat wickets
6:15
Speaker 2: that are aimed batting.
6:16
Speaker 1: And we saw where it fails is in Australia when
6:19
Speaker 1: the decks had a bit inner.
6:20
Speaker 2: Spot on, spot on. So you make a fair point
6:22
Speaker 2: next summer is at the time to slightly shift it
6:24
Speaker 2: back in the other direction. We saw in this Shield
6:27
Speaker 2: a generation to go way too high scoring. Perhaps was
6:30
Speaker 2: that the quality of the batting or the conditions, probably
6:32
Speaker 2: a mix of both. I think it's fair to say
6:35
Speaker 2: maybe next summer. Fore, the curators need to slightly adjust
6:37
Speaker 2: their their grass length. Some of the soils have a
6:40
Speaker 2: little thing during the off season. But the best way
6:42
Speaker 2: to go about it, because yeah, it has been very
6:44
Speaker 2: low scoring and it's difficult for national selectors kind of
6:47
Speaker 2: judge where the next crop of talent is coming.
6:50
Speaker 1: One man that is scoring runs despite the difficult conditions
6:53
Speaker 1: is Sam Harper. He's moved to be the chef You
6:56
Speaker 1: Shield equal leading run scorer this season alongside Pete Hanskimon.
6:59
Speaker 1: They've got six and forty runs each, ninety three against
7:02
Speaker 1: Tasmania after his twin tons against WA a year ago.
7:06
Speaker 1: If you said Sam Harper's in Test contention, nonsense, right,
7:10
Speaker 1: you'd be laughed out of the room. But you look
7:12
Speaker 1: at him now. The spot that he's in is not
7:15
Speaker 1: dissimilar to where Jake Weatherwold was a year ago. The
7:18
Speaker 1: sheffield Shire leaning run score a couple of hundreds moved
7:21
Speaker 1: up to opening and he's doing it in a way
7:23
Speaker 1: similar way that Weatherward was better than a run a ball.
7:26
Speaker 1: Is it ridiculous to say that Sam Harper is in
7:29
Speaker 1: test contention.
7:30
Speaker 2: Not ridiculous at all, and we even saw just this
7:32
Speaker 2: recent Nations series Josh Engliss was picked as a special
7:35
Speaker 2: spatter even though his primary skill is a wiki keeper,
7:37
Speaker 2: and there.
7:38
Speaker 1: Is that spot there.
7:39
Speaker 2: Whether All hasn't performed this summer as the nationalfectors would
7:42
Speaker 2: have liked, there's every chance that he could take that
7:45
Speaker 2: role off if the form continues. I guess the issue
7:47
Speaker 2: that's perhaps stopping him is Australia already has an aggressive
7:52
Speaker 2: swashbuckling opener in Travor's head. Do they want two people
7:56
Speaker 2: playing that same role. It's something we've spoken about before
7:59
Speaker 2: in regards to Jake Weatherold. Are they the best suit
8:01
Speaker 2: Travis head Weather or Sam Harper or do they need
8:04
Speaker 2: someone who can soak up the pressure a bit more
8:06
Speaker 2: a Kouwaja style player, a Renshaw style player. I think
8:11
Speaker 2: back to Rogers, Chris Rodgers and David Warner as Australia's
8:14
Speaker 2: best opening partnership in the generation because they had that
8:16
Speaker 2: perfect correspondence with each other. They supported each other, one counterpunched,
8:21
Speaker 2: one could batt all day if needed. So that's the
8:24
Speaker 2: one thing maybe stopping Sam Harper just the style of
8:26
Speaker 2: player that he is. But he's scoring one hundred every week.
8:29
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter.
8:30
Speaker 1: Yeah. If you put so many runs on the board
8:31
Speaker 1: and make yourself irresistible, yeah, they'll find a way to
8:35
Speaker 1: fit you in. Nathan mcantrew is one that's been in
8:37
Speaker 1: wickets regularly for South Australia and they're in contention for
8:41
Speaker 1: the final six for fifty five against New South Wales.
8:44
Speaker 1: And we said Harper is in a similar spot to Weatherworld.
8:46
Speaker 1: I think MacAndrew might be in a similar spot to
8:49
Speaker 1: where Brendan Doggett was a month ago and he got
8:52
Speaker 1: twelve months ago, sorry he got in the Test team.
8:55
Speaker 1: Could that be something for Nathan McAndrew in the future.
8:57
Speaker 1: I know there's a lot of depth in fast bowling,
8:59
Speaker 1: but they had to use them in the ash of Summer.
9:02
Speaker 1: I think they used six quicks again, so you do
9:04
Speaker 1: have to bat a little bit deeper when it comes
9:06
Speaker 1: to the quicks. We'll think about how.
9:07
Speaker 2: Many fastballs have followed that same rout as dog Just
9:10
Speaker 2: recently was Michael Neisen making his debut in his thirties,
9:13
Speaker 2: Scott Boland made his debut in his thirties, and at
9:16
Speaker 2: least last couple and played huge roles in that Ashes
9:19
Speaker 2: series and they still could continue playing Test cricket for
9:21
Speaker 2: a couple of years. McAndrew, I don't have his age
9:23
Speaker 2: in front of me. He's got to be thirty two.
9:25
Speaker 2: He's got plenty of years ahead of him, you think
9:27
Speaker 2: about it, So every chance that he could play a
9:29
Speaker 2: similar role to those guys. Someone I think it was
9:31
Speaker 2: maybe Andrew mclash and from krick Info who compared him
9:34
Speaker 2: to Scott Boland. You know, consistently performing at domestic level
9:38
Speaker 2: could be called upon at a horses for course of
9:40
Speaker 2: selection at any stage. We've spoken to death about all
9:43
Speaker 2: these test matches coming out for Australia. I think there's
9:45
Speaker 2: twenty tests in the space of about ten months.
9:47
Speaker 1: They're going to need a lot of quicks.
9:48
Speaker 2: Fastballing depth is gonna be so important. And with all
9:51
Speaker 2: the young guys injured at the moment, Nathan McAndrew is
9:53
Speaker 2: putting forward a pretty good case.
9:55
Speaker 1: And some of the old guy's injured as well, Haser Wood, Cummins,
9:57
Speaker 1: they're going to need it. Let's touch on the actual
10:00
Speaker 1: shefield shield is coming down to the last round for
10:02
Speaker 1: that second spot in the final. Victoria will be there
10:04
Speaker 1: they'll be hosting it. It's going to be between South
10:06
Speaker 1: Australia and Queensland to see who meets them.
10:09
Speaker 2: We mentioned before aback Queensland they dodged a ballot with
10:12
Speaker 2: the rain there. They were on the verge of a
10:13
Speaker 2: pretty heavy defeat, but they get that extra crucial point.
10:16
Speaker 2: Now I think it's actually all in South Australia's hands
10:19
Speaker 2: because if they win this upcoming game against Victoria in Melbourne,
10:23
Speaker 2: that's tough. But if they win it through in that final,
10:25
Speaker 2: pretty simple equation. But if they lose or even draw
10:29
Speaker 2: the game against Victoria, that does open the door for Queensland,
10:32
Speaker 2: who can sneak above them if they get a bonus
10:35
Speaker 2: points victory in their game against Tasmania in Hobart. So
10:39
Speaker 2: we've spoke a bonus points system. They're going to have
10:41
Speaker 2: to be scoring runs quickly and taking wickets early in
10:44
Speaker 2: this upcoming game against Tasmania because they need to do
10:47
Speaker 2: that and win and hope South Australia trip at the
10:50
Speaker 2: final hurdle for them to get in that final.
10:52
Speaker 1: But it's all in the red backs.
10:54
Speaker 2: Favor at the moment. They've got that lead on the ladder,
10:56
Speaker 2: which I have to wait and see what happens over
10:57
Speaker 2: the next week or so.
10:58
Speaker 1: It is interesting for South Australia's sort of a you
11:01
Speaker 1: beat the champ to earn the right to face the champ.
11:03
Speaker 1: They've got to beat Victoria in Victoria to earn the
11:06
Speaker 1: right to play Victoria in the final. It's a fascinating
11:09
Speaker 1: dynamic and you could pull. There's lots of themes and
11:11
Speaker 1: strings that you could pull on that. In the lead
11:13
Speaker 1: up that's the Sheffield Shield Final. The One Day Cup
11:16
Speaker 1: Final is coming up and coming up here we'll be
11:18
Speaker 1: speaking to New South Wales captain Curtis Patterson on the
11:21
Speaker 1: eve of the One Day Cup Final. We're very pleased
11:24
Speaker 1: to be joined by New South Wales captain Curtis Patterson. Curtis,
11:27
Speaker 1: thanks so much for joining.
11:28
Speaker 3: Us, Thanks for having me so.
11:30
Speaker 1: It's unfortunate of course that Jack Edwards is not going
11:33
Speaker 1: to be out there with a hamstring injury. But the
11:35
Speaker 1: exciting part is that you get to captain your state
11:38
Speaker 1: in a One Day Cup final. That must be exciting.
11:41
Speaker 4: Yeah, hang on, it's always always a pleasure to captain
11:46
Speaker 4: this group and you always want to playing big games
11:48
Speaker 4: and playing finals. So yeah, nice to be captaining and
11:53
Speaker 4: nice to be down here and Tazzy playing for playing
11:55
Speaker 4: for a title.
11:57
Speaker 1: Chatting off fair just before.
11:58
Speaker 2: There's obviously the little bit of threat of rain around
12:01
Speaker 2: in Hobert. If the match was reduced to a twenty
12:04
Speaker 2: twenty five over affair, do you think that works in
12:06
Speaker 2: the team's favor. Do you think of the firepower to
12:09
Speaker 2: dominate in a short game?
12:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, we've got some really solid whiteboard players,
12:15
Speaker 4: so you know, you want to play a full fifty
12:18
Speaker 4: over game. We've we've played some really good fifty over
12:20
Speaker 4: cricket over the last couple of years. So hopefully the
12:23
Speaker 4: rain stays away. But you know one thing I think
12:26
Speaker 4: we do really well on this team is we adapt well.
12:28
Speaker 4: We've got some really solid T twenty players who have
12:30
Speaker 4: played in some big games, so we'll we'll go with
12:34
Speaker 4: we'll go with what we're given tomorrow and give it
12:36
Speaker 4: a red hot crack.
12:38
Speaker 1: Your fifty over form at the moment, Curtis, is extraordinary.
12:41
Speaker 1: You've scored two hundred and twenty nine runs since the
12:43
Speaker 1: last time you got out in this competition. What have
12:46
Speaker 1: you put your strong form down to in this format?
12:51
Speaker 4: It's a good question, I think I think starting the
12:56
Speaker 4: tournament off with runs always helps you know you're not
13:00
Speaker 4: chasing your tail if you can get off to a
13:01
Speaker 4: good start and you can kind of relax and just
13:04
Speaker 4: get into your work. So I think that helped starting
13:07
Speaker 4: with that, and I think I've just I've found a
13:10
Speaker 4: nice rhythm too. I think my one day abatting and
13:12
Speaker 4: I probably haven't had in the past and always been
13:16
Speaker 4: somewhat consistent in getting starts, but never really gone on
13:19
Speaker 4: and scored big hundreds. So it's been nice to rectify
13:22
Speaker 4: that in a way this year and score some hundreds.
13:24
Speaker 4: So it'd be nice to get one more tomorrow night
13:27
Speaker 4: and put the team in a good position.
13:28
Speaker 3: But I don't think there's one big answer.
13:30
Speaker 4: I think feeling relaxed, being still and having just general
13:34
Speaker 4: confidence in my game has helped the season.
13:37
Speaker 2: And just casting your mind back to the final game
13:40
Speaker 2: of the pools in this competition, obviously the Blues needed
13:43
Speaker 2: to chase that target within forty overs, and I mean
13:46
Speaker 2: you were a big part of that. But what was
13:48
Speaker 2: the discussions like during the inning's break and what was
13:50
Speaker 2: the approach the team took into that run chase, Because
13:52
Speaker 2: it's a pretty nique situation and you guys nailed it.
13:56
Speaker 3: That's a really good point answer.
13:59
Speaker 4: Your question is quite frantic. At the break, we had
14:02
Speaker 4: analysts back in Sydney figuring out the net run rate
14:05
Speaker 4: type and everyone thrown out their opinion before we actually
14:08
Speaker 4: knew what the number was, and eventually before the opens
14:11
Speaker 4: went out, we got it down to forty overs. So
14:14
Speaker 4: we touched on it after the game actually around you know,
14:17
Speaker 4: how can we as a group and as individuals get
14:20
Speaker 4: that clarity with the bat all ball in hand, you know,
14:24
Speaker 4: without needing a target on a certain amount of overs.
14:26
Speaker 4: So we knew we had to maximize the power player.
14:29
Speaker 4: We knew that was going to be our best chance
14:30
Speaker 4: to win the game. And yeah, we went out there
14:34
Speaker 4: and executed, which is always the most important thing.
14:36
Speaker 3: So we've chatted about it. I think there was some.
14:39
Speaker 4: Really good ideas shed after that last game, and yeah,
14:42
Speaker 4: we'll look to bring that clarity tomorrow.
14:44
Speaker 1: Maje your way into the one A Cup Final where
14:46
Speaker 1: you'll play Tasmania live on Fox Sports and Ko. Of course,
14:50
Speaker 1: add one player that won't be out there is Adam's Zampa.
14:53
Speaker 1: He's quite selflessly put himself aside to ensure tamb Is
14:56
Speaker 1: saying a very selfless move from Adam. Wasn't there to
14:59
Speaker 1: ensure that young Tambree Sanger will get a game having
15:02
Speaker 1: played so well in this tournament so far, Yeah.
15:07
Speaker 3: Spot on.
15:08
Speaker 4: You know, there was obviously a few variables that play
15:11
Speaker 4: in that scenario. And yeah, it's hard when you're turning
15:15
Speaker 4: down Adams Hamber in a big game like a final.
15:18
Speaker 4: But I think I read an article this morning, I
15:21
Speaker 4: think our boss Greg mal pit the nail on the
15:23
Speaker 4: head that there's always a balance with these things, and
15:26
Speaker 4: Tamber has statistically been the best bowler in the competition
15:29
Speaker 4: this year. And yeah, I think the decision was probably
15:33
Speaker 4: right that it's just not quite a two leg spinners
15:35
Speaker 4: kind of ground in a day night game here. I
15:37
Speaker 4: think potentially a day game changes that, but being a
15:40
Speaker 4: day night game.
15:41
Speaker 3: That was a decision that was made.
15:43
Speaker 4: And yeah, I'm looking forward to Tamber going out there
15:45
Speaker 4: and continuing his run that he's had all year.
15:48
Speaker 2: And this is obviously going to be the second last
15:50
Speaker 2: game with coach Greg Schippard in charge of the side.
15:53
Speaker 2: Is the fact that this could be a last hurrah
15:55
Speaker 2: for him. This is the chance to finish his tenure
15:57
Speaker 2: of the state on a high. Some added motivation for
16:00
Speaker 2: the players.
16:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's it.
16:03
Speaker 4: I think it's there's just an extra layer of motivation
16:06
Speaker 4: if you need it, you know, frankly, I don't think
16:08
Speaker 4: many guys will need it going into it, going into
16:10
Speaker 4: a final, and you know, we didn't play well in
16:13
Speaker 4: the previous Shield game. We've had an extra day of rest,
16:15
Speaker 4: so there's none of those excuses floating around. So Ship,
16:19
Speaker 4: he's given his heart and soul to us for the
16:21
Speaker 4: last couple of years, So it'd be a really nice street.
16:24
Speaker 3: For all of us to send him off with a win.
16:26
Speaker 1: Not just in One day cricket in the last two years, Curtis,
16:29
Speaker 1: but also in Shield cricket. You've been one of the
16:31
Speaker 1: best performed players in the entire competition. You've got the
16:34
Speaker 1: highest Shield score by anybody this year, one hundred and
16:36
Speaker 1: seventy three, not out. What if you put your form
16:39
Speaker 1: down to the last two years, it really seems like
16:41
Speaker 1: batting has clicked for you in a way that it
16:43
Speaker 1: wasn't the few years prior.
16:47
Speaker 2: Yeah.
16:48
Speaker 4: I mean, look, the line in the sand was drawn
16:50
Speaker 4: for me when I was when I was dropped, and.
16:54
Speaker 3: I said at the time, but I needed that.
16:56
Speaker 4: I needed that line to be drawn, and sometimes it's
16:58
Speaker 4: really hard to do it when you're constantly try trying
17:00
Speaker 4: to figure things out and kind of grind through, grind
17:03
Speaker 4: through Shield cricket. It's not the place to figure areas
17:07
Speaker 4: of your game out that need to be figured out.
17:08
Speaker 4: You need to need to step away, and for me
17:11
Speaker 4: it was playing club cricket, get back into the rhythm
17:15
Speaker 4: of scoring hundreds with my club side, and just as
17:19
Speaker 4: simple as it sounds, just figure out the things that
17:22
Speaker 4: I was doing poorly. And there was a few little
17:23
Speaker 4: bad habits that have crept into my game and I
17:27
Speaker 4: was able to rectify those and felt like I came
17:29
Speaker 4: back with with a clean, clean head, a bit of
17:32
Speaker 4: a clean slate, and some newfound confidence in my game.
17:35
Speaker 3: So it's been nice to get some runs.
17:40
Speaker 4: I would have liked a fear more, particularly in this
17:41
Speaker 4: Shield season, but I think that's the game. You're never
17:44
Speaker 4: satisfied as a batter in this sport. But yeah, it's
17:47
Speaker 4: been really pleasing personally to have the performances that I
17:51
Speaker 4: guess I've had over last couple of seasons.
17:54
Speaker 1: You said ahead of your.
17:55
Speaker 2: One hundredth Sheffield Shield game recently that while you're proud
17:58
Speaker 2: of everything you've achieved, a few Test matches would have
18:01
Speaker 2: been nice. How strong is that motivation to put yourself
18:04
Speaker 2: back in contention, especially with potentially maybe a couple of
18:07
Speaker 2: spots opening up in the top of the Australian order
18:09
Speaker 2: ahead next summer.
18:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, the motivations it's there. That was I guess part
18:15
Speaker 4: of that process. Whatever it was eighteen months ago when
18:19
Speaker 4: and I had some time to think through you know,
18:21
Speaker 4: why I was playing and what my motivations were and
18:24
Speaker 4: doing everything I can to get back in that Australian
18:26
Speaker 4: side was a big one. So look, I think it's
18:30
Speaker 4: an exciting time for any first class batters out there
18:33
Speaker 4: at the moment.
18:33
Speaker 3: There's a lot of Test grigger coming up over this
18:35
Speaker 3: next eighteen months.
18:37
Speaker 4: Obviously Usman's retired, so there's a spot there and like always,
18:43
Speaker 4: I think it's scoring runs at the right time, and
18:45
Speaker 4: scoring runs this back end of the season when there's
18:48
Speaker 4: finals on and the business end.
18:50
Speaker 3: Of the season is always always a good thing to
18:51
Speaker 3: be doing. So the motivation is there.
18:54
Speaker 4: It's it's strong, but it is in the background, you
18:57
Speaker 4: know while we're here in New South Wales. As no
19:01
Speaker 4: point in thinking about that other stuff until it actually
19:03
Speaker 4: comes up, So both me and the team, we're really
19:07
Speaker 4: excited to get out there tomorrow night.
19:09
Speaker 1: Your two test matches will all the way back in
19:10
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, so it's quite a long time ago. Do
19:13
Speaker 1: you feel like your better place now if you were
19:15
Speaker 1: to get that opportunity at national level to be able
19:18
Speaker 1: to perform, even though you performed pretty strongly in your
19:20
Speaker 1: two tests.
19:26
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I'm certainly I'm playing my best trickt
19:29
Speaker 4: that I've played at the moment.
19:30
Speaker 3: There's no doubt about that, you know.
19:31
Speaker 4: I will say back when I was selected, that was
19:34
Speaker 4: in one of those rare purple patches you get in
19:36
Speaker 4: in your career when I think I was coming off
19:39
Speaker 4: for four hundreds in the previous months. So I was
19:42
Speaker 4: certainly picked at the right time, and it was nice
19:44
Speaker 4: to get that Test on hundred under my.
19:47
Speaker 3: Belt early on.
19:47
Speaker 4: But I'm more mature, I've got a more complete game now,
19:53
Speaker 4: so and I've got the confidence that I guess I've
19:55
Speaker 4: done it in the past when I was selected.
19:58
Speaker 3: So got to put runs on the board.
20:01
Speaker 4: I've got to score more red ball runs, that's for sure,
20:03
Speaker 4: and I'll be looking forward to taking that opportunity if
20:06
Speaker 4: it does come, and.
20:08
Speaker 2: No doubt that would have been a lot of disappointment
20:09
Speaker 2: in the Blues camp last week failing to make that
20:12
Speaker 2: Sheffield Shield final. But is it a bit of a
20:14
Speaker 2: bittersweet feeling seeing a couple of former teammates and Jason
20:18
Speaker 2: Sanger and Nathan McAndrew doing so well for their adopted state.
20:22
Speaker 2: It must be a bit of a weird feeling for
20:24
Speaker 2: yourself seeing them flourish in the Red Back squad.
20:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, not something I'd give that much thought to, to
20:31
Speaker 4: be honest, you know. I mean, I guess McAndrew left
20:35
Speaker 4: a while ago and he's a top five baller in
20:38
Speaker 4: the country for me, he's incredibly consistent and has fantastic skills.
20:43
Speaker 4: And Jason's probably a different one. I'm a bit closer
20:46
Speaker 4: with saying. And that period when I was dropped, he
20:49
Speaker 4: was out of the side too, and we spend a
20:51
Speaker 4: lot of time together probably trying to achieve similar things
20:54
Speaker 4: in our games and trying to figure a few things out.
20:56
Speaker 4: And cutos to him. He's done it, he's figured it out.
21:00
Speaker 4: He's got back to that Australia a level and performed
21:02
Speaker 4: there too, And I mean there was no doubt I
21:05
Speaker 4: think even the powers to be cricking New South Wales.
21:08
Speaker 4: That's saying how the lot of ability he showed us
21:10
Speaker 4: at a young age you just, for whatever reason wasn't
21:13
Speaker 4: able to define it here in New South Wales. So
21:16
Speaker 4: really happy for him that he's having that success and
21:19
Speaker 4: he's playing playing his best cricket South Australia at the moment.
21:22
Speaker 1: He certainly is, and I think you are too as well, Curtis.
21:25
Speaker 1: The One Day Cup Final New South Wales and Tasmania
21:27
Speaker 1: alive on Fox Sports and Ko thanks so much for
21:30
Speaker 1: joining us, Curtis. Good luck for that match and of
21:32
Speaker 1: course the rest of the season with New South Wales.
21:35
Speaker 3: Thanks guys, appreciate it. Chez