WA keen for Shield revenge against NSW

Western Australia will be aiming to exact a sweet slice of revenge when they take on NSW in a crunch Sheffield Shield clash at the WACA Ground.

Ladder leaders Victoria, WA and NSW are in the running for a berth in the cricket final, with hosting rights also up for grabs in what shapes as a thrilling end to the season.

NSW are the most vulnerable of the three, with the defending champions needing a victory in the final round to sneak into the decider.

The Blues outpointed WA to win last summer’s Shield title, and Warriors batsman Shaun Marsh said it would be nice to knock NSW out of this year’s race. Their clash starts on Friday.

“Yeah, it would be. We’ve had some really tough battles with NSW over the last few years,” Marsh said on Monday.

“They’re a really good side. They’ll come over here with a lot of confidence, but so will we.

“We haven’t won a Shield final for 15 years now, and it’s a real burning desire within this group to win one this year.

“We’ve put ourselves in a really good position over the last few weeks to do that.”

In a quirk of the competition, WA slipped from first to second spot at the weekend despite posting an outright win over Queensland.

Victoria snuck ahead of the Warriors by 0.06 of a point after tallying more bonus points in their crushing win over South Australia.

Final-round bonus points could decide who gets to host the Shield final, and Marsh said his team were desperate to win the honour.

“It does give the side a massive advantage,” he said.

Marsh’s strong recent form is set to be rewarded with a Test call-up for Australia’s tour of the West Indies, starting on June 5.

He is also firming to win a berth for this year’s Ashes battle in England.

Voges has also put himself in the hunt for a Test call-up after tallying 1132 runs at an average of 102.90 during the Shield season.

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