Melbourne [Australia], November 11 : With the Ashes set to commence from November 21 at Perth, plenty of Australian stars have found rhythm and got game time heading into the all-important rivalry, a massive series in their chase for the ICC World Test Championship Mace.
From Steve Smith's lone resistance in Sydney to Cameron Green's lively spells in Perth, the Sheffield Shield doubled as the perfect Ashes warm-up.
Smith, Green, Scott Boland, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and a host of other stars have been named in Australia's Ashes squad, returning with impressive numbers in their respective outings, as per the ICC.
At Sydney, Smith, the captain for the first Perth Test, seemed like batting on a different pitch, scoring 57 in 89, class apart in a struggling New South Wales batting line-up. While the home side were bundled out for 128 against Victoria, Smith played with his signature theatrics, calmness and sound technique on a spicy pitch, scoring a half-century. NSW trailed by 254 runs in response to Victoria's first innings 382, with a century from Peter Handscomb (104 in 210 balls, with 11 fours) being a standout. Starc had also got four wickets in the first innings, with Hazlewood going wicketless.
Smith's composed knock drew appreciation from spin wizard and teammate Nathan Lyon, who grabbed four wickets for himself.
"Smithy is Smithy, is not he?", Lyon was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo as quoted by ICC.
"He trusted his defence and allowed himself time to get in the game."
"He would have faced close to 100 balls. In my eyes, if you allow yourself to get in and face as many balls as you can, that's when you give yourself the opportunity to score runs," concluded Lyon.
Sam Elliott, who represented Australia A against India A last month, took a career-best 5 for 26 in his first Shield appearance of the season, and for the bowler, the day carried a touch of disbelief in the form of bowling to Australia great Smith.
"It is a bit surreal, to be honest," he said after bowling to Smith for the first time.
"The cricket nuffy in me sort of pinched myself a little bit... you watch him play for Australia growing up and see all those innings that he plays. I mean, today, his bat looked like it was five times wider than everyone else," he added.
On the opposite end for Victoria, Scott Boland (2/27) once again showcased his consistency with the ball by striking twice and removing opener Sam Konstas - who missed out on the Ashes squad for the first Test - for the sixth time in the competition.
At the end of the day, Victoria was 56/2, with Marcus Harris and Todd Murphy unbeaten and Starc and Sean Abbott having got one wicket.
Meanwhile in Perth, all-rounder Cameron Green marked his return to full bowling duties with two fiery spells for Western Australia against Queensland.
Green moved the ball both ways and regularly clocked up 135-140 kph in his eight-over burst which had three maidens, claiming the opening wicket of Queenslad batter Angus Lovell and troubling the batters with a mix of sharp bouncers and full-length deliveries.
Queensland's captain Marnus Labuschagne (50) added a fluent fifty to his name as well in the contest, with Matt Renshaw (101 in 198 balls, with eight fours and two sixes), another contender for an opening slot, posting a fluent ton as Victoria ended the day at 323/6.
In the clash between South Australia and Tasmania, Beau Webster's five-wicket haul bundled out SA for 177 runs, with stalwarts Travis Head (9) and Alex Carey (59) having contrasting outings. They trailed Tasmania by 32 runs, with Brednan Doggett getting a five-wicket haul for SA in the first innings. Tasmania ended the day at 177/9.
Australia's First Test squad for Ashes: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster.
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