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Where there’s a Will, there’s a way: Victoria’s unlikely ride to the Sheffield Shield final

Posted: 2023-03-22 03:00:52

Original link: https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/where-there-s-a-will-there-s-a-way-victoria-s-unlikely-ride-to-the-sheffield-shield-final-20230322-p5cu9h.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_sport

He’s an all-rounder, happy always to be in the game, but weary sometimes because he’s never out of it.

“I always say I want to be a genuine all-rounder,” he said. “The stats would suggest I’m more of a bowing all-rounder at the moment. But you have to have the mindset to be a genuine all-rounder if you want that to happen. I divide my time up pretty equally, to try to improve my batting and become a genuine all-rounder one day.”

Matthew Kuhnemann bowls for Queensland against Victoria at the MCG.Credit:Getty

His model is Shane Watson. He’s read the former Australian all-rounder’s book and speaks to him regularly. What he takes from him is how to play the game with the mind.

“Self talk. Understanding the attributes that bring out your best performance,” Sutherland said. “For my batting, it’s more of an aggressive mindset. Try to pick a fight almost out in the middle. It’s going to be different for each person, but when I think back to my best innings, that’s the way I was. I try to channel that when I bat.”

Sutherland’s promotion to the Victorian captaincy while Peter Handscomb was in India was both out of the blue and foreseeable. He’s just 23, but did captain Australia’s Under 19s and he bore first-hand witness to the responsibilities entailed by high office as his youth and adolescence pretty much coincided with the 18 years that his father James was CEO of Cricket Australia.

Sutherland said he and his father talked about leadership and shared articles. “I’m sure I picked up things as a kid, watching him and the way he carried himself,” he said. “He’s a very good role model for leadership, that’s for sure.”

For the final, Sutherland will hand the reins back to Handscomb, newly returned from India. This final is a repeat of last year’s on the same ground, won by WA on first innings bonus points.

When the two teams played there last week, the pitch was sporty and the scoring low. Sutherland expects a different pitch this week, and knows to prepare a different WA attack. Seamers Lance Morris, Joel Paris and Matt Kelly will all come back into the team after a strategic rest; between them, they have taken 78 Shield wickets at 17 this season.

Not that Victoria lacks firepower. Scott Boland no longer needs an introduction, Sutherland himself has taken 36 wickets at 20.6 this season and Mitch Perry and Fergus O’Neill have emerged as bowlers of account. The final will be won by whichever batting team stands up best to the barrages.