Even though pole position was up for grabs in the fight to make the Sheffield Shield final, both Western Australia and New South Wales decided to play it relatively safe in an anti-climax of a finish that resulted in a draw at the WACA.
NSW then decided that the chase was too difficult on a tricky surface that had proven tough for batters against the new ball.
“We wanted anywhere between 250 and 300,” Cartwright said. “We knew when the ball got soft it was easier to bat. We didn’t want to give them too many overs with not enough runs. If we gave them 70 overs to chase 250, that probably would have been quite easy for them.
“We wanted to try and work out the balance… trying to give ourselves enough time to bowl them out, but also entice them to try and chase the score. We did think that they might have had more of a crack at the total because [a win] would go a long way towards being in the final.”
“Maybe [expecting a declaration] a bit earlier,” NSW captain Jack Edwards said. “They batted us out of the game and earned the right to drive the game. Losing [Maddinson], we decided to pack it up. [Konstas] played well. He showed how much of a good natural player he is when is applying himself.”
The fates of both teams are out of their hands, but they will need to stay focused in what are now must-win games. NSW will next travel to Bellerive Oval and will be favoured against Tasmania who have little to play for with their season over.
“I’m hoping so, having guys like that come back goes a long way for us to win that game,” Edwards said. “We’re looking to win the next match and just put our best foot forward and see what happens.”
Coming off a stress fracture last winter as well as a quad strain late in the pre-season, Morris has a restriction of around 30 overs a game. He claimed a first-class career best of 5 for 26 from 20.3 overs in NSW’s first innings and there was intrigue over how many overs he would bowl on the final day.
Morris ended up bowling 12 overs, including a couple at the end where he unleashed several searing yorkers in a last gasp attempt at a miracle. But Morris was unable to rediscover his control and accuracy from earlier in the match to finish with 0 for 41.
“[Connolly] came in during the game and said g’day, it’s always good having him around. He’ll bolster the batting,” Cartwright said. “We’ve got to entirely focus on what happens in our camp. If things fall our way, obviously that will be nice if that happens. But we’ve got to tick our own boxes before we look at [the other] games over east.”
