Sheffield Shield Final - Manuka Oval

NSW  finished Day 4 of 5 well on top at Manuka Oval, Canberra. WA look a beaten side in this decider. We joined about 2,500 other cricket watchers yesterday morning to see Day 3 on a sunny day in the capital. Overnight WA were a miserable 15-4 in reply to NSW's 447 all out. Josh Hazlewood and Trent Copeland tore in to try to remove the remaining batsmen. Ryan Duffield soon edged a rising delivery from Hazlewood to keeper Peter Nevill ; 23-5. It was a backs to the wall effort after that as Shaun and Mitch Marsh tried to repair the ''train wreck'' - Justin Langer's [WA's manager] description of their innings at close of Day 2

Shaun and Mitch batted slowly and patiently until their stand and effectively WA's innings was broken when Test discard Shaun was LBW to Moises Henriques for 40. Mitch opened up and hit a couple of enormous 6s as the firey Hazelwood continued to plough through the WA batting. Sam Whiteman was caught behind as too was Ashton Agar. Agar was a big disappointment. He played and missed dreadfully until put out of his misery by Hazlewood for a sad 32 ball 2. The WA innings concluded on 180 all out with Mitch Marsh unlucky not to get a century. He finished on 91 not out running out of partners. Spinners Lyon and O'Keeffe played cameo roles in the demolition job.

NSW batting again quickly lost their openers Ryan Carters and Nic Maddinson for ducks. Skipper Steve Smith , who though a real fidget at the crease is impressive with the willow, and Ben Rohrer steadied the ship ...Close of play Day 3 46-2

We ambled to the ground earlier today [Day 4 of 5 / Monday] looking above at the slate grey coloured sky. Smith and Rohrer resumed but the latter was quickly dismissed by Behrendorff ; 57-3. The umpires looked at their light meters and minutes later the heavens opened. Heavy rain followed for the duration and no more play was possible as we headed for a hot drink in one of the many cafes in Manuka.

Scores ; New South Wales  447 and 59-3

Western Australia 180  

1 day's play remaining 

The Sheffield Shield Final has been watched by;

Day 1 1,700 Day 2 [Sat.] 4,500 Day 3 2,500 Day 4  1,200

Although the crowds have been , well , moderate those attending are clearly the very keen cricket lovers present at County Championship matches. There was a quietness and seriousness about the cricket ground which was tangible. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience notwithstanding the rain today. It has been a disappointment that several NSW eligible players were absent owing to international duty [Watson, Warner and Haddin] also in Michael Clarke's case a shoulder injury . However, the major blow was the decision to host baseball at the SCG at the same time

As the rain teemed down I spoke briefly wth WA skipper Adam Voges. He remembered his time at Trent Bridge with great affection...''I loved it there....'' he said

Cheers 

Andy