This stunning catch may save Marnus Labuschagne’s Test career
A blinding catch by Campbell Kellaway in the WACA outfield, captured in grainy vision by streaming cameras, was more than one of the most eye-popping moments of the 2024-25 season.
It may also help ensure Marnus Labuschagne is still batting at No.3 for Australia in the Ashes next summer.
Initially misjudging a Cameron Gannon hook shot at long leg, 22-year-old Kellaway made a desperate dive to claim the chance in his outstretched right hand and in doing so, sealed Victoria’s victory over Western Australia.
His effort recalled a young Matthew Hayden in an ODI at Lord’s way back in 1993, although there was also a healthy helping of Adam Dale hurling himself to catch Phil Emery at the Gabba four years later.
“I actually don’t think I have [seen a better catch] to be honest,” Victoria’s captain Will Sutherland said of Kellaway. “With the filming it still came up pretty well, but it’s not the Big Bash cameras, but for him to take that catch into the sun as well, it’s a pretty incredible catch. Almost better than his 150.”
That result ended WA’s four-year monopoly on the Sheffield Shield final, meaning Queensland will instead play top team South Australia in the decider after jumping from last to second in the final two rounds. A successful fourth-innings chase would have vaulted WA into the final.
In turn, Labuschagne will get the chance to lead Queensland in the final, and to make the kind of score that might shore up his shaky hold on a place in the Australian Test top order amid looming challenges from Josh Inglis and Cameron Green.
The national selectors will be watching the Shield final closely, regarding it as the most meaningful first-class game on the calendar in terms of judging a player’s worth under the harshest spotlight available below Test matches.
Moreover, Labuschagne will have to score his runs against SA’s outstanding bowling attack, which has been a major reason why the side formerly known as the Redbacks won six games outright this season. Nathan McAndrew, Brendan Doggett, Jordan Buckingham and Henry Thornton make for a powerful quartet, augmented by the spin of Lloyd Pope.
Labuschagne will be joined in the Bulls’ XI by Usman Khawaja, after the Test opener recovered from hamstring and ankle niggles that ruled him out of the final round of the regular season.
Kellaway’s catch put the capstone on a game in which he had carved out a superb and unbeaten 165, to follow up scores of 79 and 77 in his previous game against SA at Junction Oval.
“Kellaway’s been an interesting one for us,” Victoria’s coach Chris Rogers said. “We believe we’ve got a potential Australian player but he’s found it tough. Professional cricket in Australia is very tough, especially for top-order batters.
“It’s taken him quite a while to work a lot of things out, but the way he’s gone about it in the last two games, you can see he’s got the game that will stand up at the next level some time in the future. That’s exciting for us.”
Before the season, Victoria’s high-performance arm queried the Shield points system with Cricket Australia. This was based on the belief that the current use of bonus points accumulated for runs scored in the first 100 overs of a first innings was both diluting incentives to win games outright, and also rewarding grounds that allow for faster scoring than the MCG.
Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja.Credit: AP
Those questions were enhanced by the final shape of this season’s Shield table, in which Queensland clinched second despite winning one fewer game outright than Victoria – something that has happened on only two other occasions in the past 30 years.
“A bit frustrating, we’ve probably only got ourselves to blame,” Sutherland said. “We lost four in a row, and two games we definitely know we should have won. So a few years in a row now where we’ve only got ourselves to blame.
“But in saying that we did win four games and Queensland won three and have somehow made the final. That is a little bit interesting and confusing with the bonus points system there. A young and exciting group but plenty to be done.”
Sam Konstas finished his domestic season with a serviceable innings of 68 for NSW against Tasmania, and will now wait to see whether room can be found for him in county cricket.
The Tigers concluded their campaign with a victory in Hobart thanks in part to a five-wicket haul from left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann, whose bowling action is no longer in question.
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