Rob Quiney will be keen to hand the captaincy straight back to Matthew Wade following the Sheffield Shield game at the WACA Ground after Victoria had a horror first day against Western Australia.
Quiney is captaining Victoria with Wade suspended for pitch tampering during last week's 129-run win over Tasmania at Bellerive, and the day got off to a bad start.
It didn't improve.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl, Victoria were punished by the home side who finished the day at 3-315.
WA openers Marcus North (145 from 269 deliveries) and Cameron Bancroft (86 from 176) combined for a 208-run opening partnership got the Warriors off to the best possible start before captain Adam Voges (62 not out) and Shaun Marsh (2 no) consolidated.
North was again the star for WA as the former five-century Test batsman continues his remarkable start to the Shield season since moving to the opening slot.
The 34-year-old has scored 589 runs already this season at an average of 117.8 with three centuries and an unbeaten match-saving 84 last week against South Australia in Adelaide.
Bancroft brought up his maiden first-class half-century and appeared on target for triple figures before playing at a ball off his hip to stand-in wicket-keeper Peter Handscomb off the bowling of Jake Haberfield.
Warriors No.3 John Rogers then made just one when a he miscued a pull shot to offer a return catch to Haberfield.
Haberfield dismissed North to pick up all three wickets but went for 77 runs off 18 overs on his debut.
Cameron White (0-9 from four overs) and Dan Christian (0-40 from 15) did look the most likely Victorian bowlers, but were used relatively sparingly by Quiney.
After initially being surprised that WA were asked to bat first, Bancroft was delighted to firstly post his first Shield score of note and to witness first hand the form that North is in.
"It's the first time I've got to 50 and it would have been nice to get to a hundred, but I just have to make sure that the next time I get that chance, I take it," Bancroft said.
"He (North) is the best person that I've ever batted with. There were times when I was feeling fatigued and not concentrating, and he knows what to say. We've got a really good thing going at the moment and it was nice to have a 200-run partnership with him."
Share
