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What's live on SN this weekendSheffield Shield: Batting contenders struggle on opening day
Nicholas Quinlan • October 4th, 2025 9:13 pm
It’s been a tough day for some of the batsmen in contention for the Ashes squad as the Sheffield Shield season gets underway across the country.
With the Ashes just under 50 days away, the next couple of rounds of Shield cricket will prove pivotal for players such as Sam Konstas, Nathan McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne to press their cases to be selected to the national team.
After closing out the Australia A tour to India with a strong 85 not out, McSweeney was not able to enhance his standing following his first innings in the 25/26 season.
After being put into bat by Victoria, the South Australian captain was did not add to his side’s score, having gone out for a duck.
Batting at No. 3, McSweeney was held runless for 20 balls before he proceeded to edge a Mitchell Perry length ball, which found the hands of Peter Handscombe at second slip.
While the captain may have struggled, the Redbacks are in a good position at the end of Day One, with Jake Lehmann and opener Henry Hunt having made centuries.
Later in the morning, Western Australia and New South Wales would kick-start their Shield campaigns in Perth.
In his first game as captain for NSW, Nathan Lyon would lose the coin toss, which saw his side sent into bat at the WACA.
This meant that Sam Konstas would be out to bat as he looked to build off his century that he made during the first four-day match on the Australia A tour to India.
But similar to McSweeney, the New South Welshman would struggle to make a start.
Konstas was hit on the pads by Joel Paris with WA appealing for a potential LBW in the third over of the match, which would be called not out when he was on one.
However, his stay at the crease didn’t last too much longer, with Paris getting the 20-year-old for LBW just four overs later for four runs.
He wasn’t the only NSW player to struggle against the Western Australian bowling attack, with Blake Nikitaras and Kurtis Patterson going out cheaply to see their side 3/35, with rain forcing the covers to be on the ground for most of the day.
While Konstas and McSweeney had their struggles, there were other contenders who made decent contributions when they had their opportunities.
One of those would be Jake Weatherald.
Having been last season’s top scorer, the opener made a strong start, managing to make 67 runs in the space of 99 balls before being dismissed in a caught and bowled by Queensland’s Michael Neser.
This would see Tasmania manage to get to 6/299 at Stumps on Day One.
The action will continue tomorrow for Day Two.
