Victoria and Tasmania played out a tame draw on day four of their Sheffield Shield clash at the Junction Oval in Melbourne, with the lifeless pitch preventing any prospect of a result.
Marcus Harris continued his impressive form with a second-innings 52, adding to his first-innings century. However, the lack of bounce and pace in the wicket made it impossible for Tasmania to take 10 wickets in the time remaining.
Harris’s innings was characterized by his trademark fluency, striking eight boundaries before nicking a full delivery from Kieran Elliott. Ash Chandrasinghe also impressed, scoring 44 before being bowled by Matt Kuhnemann.
Victoria’s second innings reached 120 for 2 off 52 overs, with Campbell Kellaway and Peter Handscomb remaining unbeaten. Tasmania had declared overnight with a 99-run lead, but the flat pitch made it clear that a result was unlikely.
Despite the disappointing outcome, Harris was pleased with his performance. He revealed that he had spoken to Australia selector Tony Dodemaide about the possibility of playing for Australia A against India A in the upcoming weeks.
“He asked if I wanted to bat six and bowl seam up in the Test side,” Harris joked. “He was just talking about the Aussie A stuff. I think that’ll come out the next few days.”
Victoria coach Chris Rogers and Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan expressed frustration at the lack of a result. They acknowledged the challenges of preparing a lively wicket early in the season, but Rogers admitted that the current surface was “not great for cricket.”
Vaughan echoed Rogers’ sentiments, stating that it is “darn hard at this time of year to get high-quality result wickets.”
