“I thought we were staring down the barrel of a wooden spoon,” Rogers said last week.
Victoria’s season was effectively on the line after she lost two games in a row after tying the first three. Last season’s finalists had fallen against NSW in their second innings to 6 for 131, a lead of just 57, leading to a dejected Rogers fearing the worst.
Four straight wins since the resumption of the season have propelled a youthful Victoria into a rematch of last year’s decider with defending champions Western Australia in the WACA starting on Thursday.
As Rogers began to lose hope, Victoria’s players always claimed they were not far from a change of fortune.
“The signs were there. Just those little moments that we couldn’t cross the line earlier in the season. We’re finally winning those clutch moments.”
Only recently returning from India, Handscomb has walked into a very confident side optimistic about their chances of ending WA’s bid for a second successive treble of domestic titles.
“Overall as a Victorian team we’ve always had a bit of confidence and these young guys coming through don’t lack confidence either,” he said. “It’s good to just roll back in, I didn’t have to say too much. These guys are just running their show.”
Handscomb and Murphy cause selection headaches
Handscomb will replace veteran opener Travis Dean or emerging batter Ashley Chandrasinghe.
Holland has taken 12 wickets at 28.75 in seven games this season, including 3 for 15 in WA’s first innings of 122 last week.
Murphy looks likely to get the nomination, but has never played at the pace-friendly WACA, a terrain known for being uncompromising for spinners.
“Todd Murphy also hadn’t played a game in India and he still got picked and did well there,” said Handscomb. “We don’t care if guys have played here or not. We have a lot of talent in the squad.
“Whoever misses who played… it’s going to be tough.”
In particularly grueling conditions, characterized by a green-tinted field, only two of the five games at the WACA this season have reached day four, and both games ended before lunch.
WA would unleash Lance Morris
Morris was overlooked for selection in India and has not played since the BBL in late January, with his last red-ball game coming against Queensland in early December.
“I had the joy of facing the confrontation [Morris] in the nets yesterday and came through unscathed,” Whiteman said. “He bowls fast and after a month of bowling in the nets, he’s itching to go.”
While Handscomb admitted that spoiling WA’s gold run was “extra motivation”, Whiteman preferred to play according to the organization’s playbook and not give too much away publicly.
“There is absolutely no question of winning all three titles this season,” he said. “I don’t think there is any internal pressure. We played really good cricket this year and deserved the right to play at home.
“They’ve got a full head of steam. It’s going to be a damn good game.”
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist from Perth