Victoria struggled to adapt from hit-and-giggle mode on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash against NSW at the SCG, with the exception of the biggest hitter of them all, Glenn Maxwell.
NSW bowled Victoria out for 218 in 50.1 overs on Wednesday, and finished the day just 90 runs in arrears at 2-128.
Maxwell made 94 off 95 balls before holding out in the deep attempting to bring his third first-class century up with a third six of the innings.
The Australian Twenty20 star lifted the visitors to a half respectable total on an SCG green top, but Victoria were let down by a raft of stars who appeared stuck in Big Bash League mode.
Aaron Finch (7), Cameron White (29), Matt Wade (10) and Dan Christian (0) all played ordinary shots to leave Victoria in a precarious position at 6-111 at lunch.
Trent Copeland (3-50) said after winning the toss, NSW bowling plan centred on outlasting the patience of their last-placed opposition.
“Instincts take over to a certain degree. They tell you to hit balls you should be leaving, because you’ve been practising for two months to try and slog them out of the park,” Copeland said.
“You need to find a happy medium and get back into (Shield mode) as soon as you can and the teams that do that the best generally win this first match after the T20 break.”
Allrounder Sean Abbott (3-44) and Doug Bollinger (2-41) also led the way for the second-placed Blues, before the batsmen came out and set a solid base in difficult conditions.
Ryan Carters departed for 42, but Scott Henry (41 not out) and Ben Rohrer (27 not out) are well positioned to build a solid first innings lead for the Blues.
Maxwell said the seaming conditions mean the contest is far from over, and Victoria’s bowlers simply need to build pressure with the ball on day two.
The Australian limited overs star played all the shots in the book on Wednesday, reverse sweeping Copeland for one of 11 boundaries.
Maxwell had grafted his way nicely to 60, before blasting away with the tail to ensure Victoria climbed over 200.
Criticised for cheap-dismissals for Australia during the summer, Maxwell said he’s focused on balancing out his game.
“I was caught a few times in between two minds – whether to show my natural flair and bat without any reins and on the other side people constantly talking about being the finisher and be like Mike Hussey, not out at the end,” he said.
“No.6 has been so good for us in the one-day format, with Bevan and Mike Hussey, there’s a bit of pressure on me.
“At the moment I’ve got to work hard on my game to make sure I’m up to that standard.
“I think I’ve got the tools to do that, it’s just whether I’ve got the mental application.”