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The 2020–21 Sheffield Shield season was the 119th season of the Sheffield Shield, the Australian domestic first-class cricket competition. On 26 June 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed all the squads for the 2020–21 domestic cricket season. Cricket Australia also confirmed that the tournament would use the Kookaburra ball for all the matches, after using the Duke ball since the 2016–17 season. New South Wales were the defending champions.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first four rounds of the season are being played at four venues in Adelaide. With further restrictions due to the pandemic in Australia, the first round match between New South Wales and Victoria was scheduled to take place from 17 November 2020, because of extra measures for people travelling into South Australia from Victoria. However, on 12 October 2020, Victoria's first two matches were postponed due to the extra quarantine restrictions.

Round three of the tournament saw a new record partnership set in a Sheffield Shield match. Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski of Victoria scored 486 runs for the first wicket, in the match against South Australia. The previous record was held by Mark and Steve Waugh, making 464 for New South Wales against Western Australia in the 1990–91 tournament.

On 16 December 2020, Cricket Australia confirmed the remaining schedule of the tournament, when the tournament was shortened by one round. On 10 February 2021, the tournament was shortened further by one round, with the final starting on 15 April 2021. Queensland won the tournament, beating New South Wales by an innings and 33 runs in the final.

Points table

Team	Pld	W	L	D	MA	BP	Pts
Queensland	8	3	1	3	1	11.17	33.17
New South Wales	8	3	2	3	0	10.51	31.51
Western Australia	8	2	1	5	0	11.37	28.37
Tasmania	8	2	3	3	0	13.11	28.11
Victoria	8	1	1	6	0	9.76	21.76
South Australia	8	0	3	4	1	7.82	12.82

Round-Robin stage

Round 1

Western Australia	v	South Australia (H)
5/481d (129 overs) Josh Inglis 153* (182) Lloyd Pope 5/164 (27 overs)		314 (114 overs) Jake Weatherald 105 (160) Ashton Agar 5/103 (33 overs)
2/215d (45 overs) Shaun Marsh 110* (111) Chadd Sayers 2/56 (11 overs)		177 (82.3 overs) Travis Head 54 (105) Joel Paris 2/10 (10.3 overs)

• Western Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Lance Morris (Western Australia) made his first-class debut.
• Lloyd Pope (South Australia) became the first leg spinner in 50 years to take a five-wicket haul on the opening day of a Sheffield Shield season.
• Josh Inglis (Western Australia) scored his maiden first-class century.
• Ashton Agar (Western Australia) became the 28th player to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in the same Sheffield Shield match.

Tasmania	v	Queensland
250 (85.3 overs) Ben McDermott 74 (156) Michael Neser 5/32 (17 overs)		529 (156.3 overs) Marnus Labuschagne 167 (230) Nathan Ellis 3/99 (32 overs)
210 (129.2 overs) Jordan Silk 56 (201) Mitchell Swepson 4/66 (45.2 overs)

• Tasmania won the toss and elected to bat.
• Park 25 hosted its maiden first-class cricket match.
• Michael Neser (Queensland) scored his maiden first-class century. Neser also became the 27th player to score a century and take a five-wicket haul in the same Sheffield Shield match.

New South Wales	v	Victoria

• The match was postponed due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.

Round 2

South Australia	v	Tasmania
195 (82.4 overs) Harry Nielsen 64 (164) Beau Webster 3/26 (12 overs)		8/493d (158 overs) Jake Doran 112 (229) Chadd Sayers 3/27 (29 overs)
5/347 (128 overs) Travis Head 171* (256) Jackson Bird 2/53 (23 overs)

• South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.

New South Wales	v	Western Australia
6/443d (141 overs) Moises Henriques 167 (276) Ashton Agar 2/106 (40 overs)		534 (167.5 overs) Cameron Green 197 (438) Sean Abbott 6/89 (32.5 overs)
2/107 (34 overs) Kurtis Patterson 48 (79) Cameron Gannon 1/22 (9 overs)

• Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.

Victoria	v	New South Wales

• The match was postponed due to COVID-19 quarantine restrictions.

Round 3

Western Australia	v	Tasmania
302 (89.1 overs) Shaun Marsh 115 (242) Nathan Ellis 4/76 (17.1 overs)		432 (128.3 overs) Ben McDermott 90 (220) Lance Morris 5/94 (20.3 overs)
5/436d (100 overs) Sam Whiteman 118 (192) Nathan Ellis 2/108 (121)		2/117 (48 overs) Matthew Wade 57* (143) Matthew Kelly 1/10 (7 overs)

• Tasmania won the toss and elected to field.
• Shaun Marsh (Western Australia) scored his 30th century in first-class cricket.
• Lance Morris (Western Australia) took his maiden first-class five-wicket haul.

South Australia	v	Victoria
200 (80 overs) Henry Hunt 50 (108) Will Sutherland 3/26 (16 overs)		3/564d (139.1 overs) Will Pucovski 255* (386) Travis Head 1/53 (10.1 overs)
8/384 (160 overs) Travis Head 151 (296) Scott Boland 6/61 (33 overs)

• South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Zak Evans and Mitchell Perry (Victoria) both made their first-class debuts.
• Marcus Harris and Will Pucovski (Victoria) made the highest ever partnership in Sheffield Shield history, scoring 486 runs for the first wicket. The previous record was held by Mark and Steve Waugh, making 464 for New South Wales against Western Australia in the 1990–91 tournament.

Queensland	v	New South Wales
298 (97.2 overs) Marnus Labuschagne 117 (203) Mitchell Starc 4/76 (24 overs)		283 (81.1 overs) Sean Abbott 66 (77) Mitchell Swepson 5/97 (23 overs)
190 (63.5 overs) Matt Renshaw 42 (115) Trent Copeland 5/17 (18 overs)		9/206 (78.3 overs) Daniel Solway 52 (129) Mitchell Swepson 5/74 (29 overs)

• New South Wales won the toss and elected to field.

Round 4

Victoria	v	Western Australia
4/414d (119 overs) Will Pucovski 202 (348) Matthew Kelly 3/84 (27 overs)		479 (139.1 overs) Shaun Marsh 135 (271) Jon Holland 4/115 (42.1 overs)
4/199 (86 overs) Marcus Harris 45 (150) Aaron Hardie 2/19 (11 overs)

• Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.

New South Wales	v	Tasmania
64 (30.3 overs) Mitchell Starc 18 (22) Jackson Bird 4/14 (10.3 overs)		239 (94.1 overs) Jordan Silk 106 (264) Sean Abbott 4/33 (21.1 overs)
6/522d (139 overs) Nick Larkin 161 (292) Jackson Bird 2/84 (29 overs)		202 (80.5 overs) Matthew Wade 59 (156) Nathan Lyon 3/60 (25 overs)

• Tasmania won the toss and elected to field.
• New South Wales made their third-lowest total in the Sheffield Shield.
• Sean Abbott (New South Wales) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.

Queensland	v	South Australia
5/496d (124 overs) Matt Renshaw 168* (230) Chadd Sayers 2/98 (29 overs)		154 (64.4 overs) Will Bosisto 38 (139) Mitchell Swepson 5/55 (25 overs)
3/105d (26 overs) Usman Khawaja 46* (46) Will Bosisto 2/45 (8 overs)		385 (158 overs) Harry Nielsen 114 (260) Mark Steketee 4/43 (28 overs)

• Queensland won the toss and elected to bat.
• Jimmy Peirson (Queensland) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.
• Callum Ferguson (South Australia) played in his final first-class cricket match.

Round 5

New South Wales	v	Victoria
165 (80.3 overs) Moises Henriques 67 (170) Mitchell Perry 3/25 (17 overs)		200 (74 overs) Nic Maddinson 77 (80) Nathan Lyon 6/21 (16 overs)
175 (50 overs) Sean Abbott 73 (75) Scott Boland 4/57 (16 overs)		6/143 (57.1 overs) Nic Maddinson 44 (77) Nathan Lyon 4/57 (28.1 overs)

• Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
• Nathan Lyon (New South Wales) took his 600th first-class wicket.

Tasmania	v	Queensland
332 (101.1 overs) Caleb Jewell 140 (236) Brendan Doggett 4/88 (23.1 overs)		275 (77.4 overs) Joe Burns 171 (217) Beau Webster 4/50 (15.4 overs)
252 (76.4 overs) Jake Doran 55 (121) Xavier Bartlett 4/59 (19 overs)		7/310 (97.4 overs) Usman Khawaja 115* (206) Nathan Ellis 2/58 (19 overs)

• Queensland won the toss and elected to field.
• Matthew Kuhnemann (Queensland) made his first-class debut.
• Caleb Jewell (Tasmania) scored his maiden first-class century.

South Australia	v	Western Australia (H)
8/510d (124.5 overs) Travis Head 223 (245) Cameron Green 3/119 (28 overs)		5/409d (117 overs) Cameron Green 168* (298) Wes Agar 2/80 (22 overs)
9/230d (56 overs) Alex Carey 82* (112) Liam O'Connor 3/53 (11 overs)		9/148 (75 overs) Shaun Marsh 45 (95) Daniel Worrall 4/30 (20 overs)

• South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Travis Head (South Australia) scored his maiden double century in first-class cricket.

Victoria	v	New South Wales
190 (67.1 overs) Matthew Short 94 (184) Harry Conway 6/39 (15.1 overs)		364 (114.1 overs) Moises Henriques 141 (202) James Pattinson 4/60 (26 overs)
4/270 (129 overs) Peter Handscomb 124* (327) Nathan Lyon 2/64 (40 overs)

• New South Wales won the toss and elected to field.

Round 6

Tasmania	v	Victoria (H)
188 (66.1 overs) Jake Doran 52 (99) Scott Boland 4/44 (17.1 overs)		199 (84.5 overs) Peter Handscomb 73 (115) Jackson Bird 4/43 (22.5 overs)
263 (127.3 overs) Jake Doran 98 (237) James Pattinson 3/54 (26 overs)		1/122 (37.2 overs) Peter Handscomb 54* (68) Peter Siddle 1/16 (9 overs)

• Victoria won the toss and elected to field.

South Australia	v	New South Wales
8/428d (132 overs) Alex Carey 125 (214) Nathan Lyon 5/152 (45 overs)		7/366d (122 overs) Kurtis Patterson 102 (184) David Grant 2/81 (26 overs)
6/178d (54 overs) Travis Head 44 (76) Nathan Lyon 2/44 (21 overs)		4/298 (70.1 overs) Sean Abbott 83 (102) Travis Head 1/29 (8 overs)

• South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Joe Medew-Ewen (South Australia) made his first-class debut.

Western Australia	v	Queensland (H)
5/458d (124 overs) Cameron Green 251 (343) Jack Wildermuth 2/60 (20 overs)		9/600d (179.5 overs) Matt Renshaw 139 (230) Jake Carder 3/134 (31.5 overs)
4/178 (58 overs) Jake Carder 57* (115) Jack Wildermuth 2/30 (9 overs)

• Queensland won the toss and elected to field.
• Cameron Green (Western Australia) scored his maiden double century in first-class cricket.

Round 7

Victoria	v	Queensland
7/219 (76 overs) Marcus Harris 113* (230) Jack Wildermuth 2/41 (10 overs)

• Queensland won the toss and elected to field.
• No play was possible on days 3 and 4 due to rain.

Tasmania	v	New South Wales
333 (107.1 overs) Tim Paine 87 (159) Harry Conway 3/80 (22.1 overs)		32 (19.3 overs) Peter Nevill 10* (30) Jackson Bird 7/18 (10 overs)
191 (56.2 overs) Tim Paine 40* (80) Nathan Lyon 4/48 (17 overs)		194 (64.3 overs) Trent Copeland 58 (60) Peter Siddle 3/31 (15 overs)

• New South Wales won the toss and elected to field.

Queensland	v	South Australia

• No toss.
• No play was possible on day 1 due to rain.
• No play was possible on days 2, 3 and 4 due to a wet outfield.

Western Australia	v	Victoria
9/391d (119 overs) Josh Inglis 115 (159) Will Sutherland 4/81 (26 overs)		207 (74.2 overs) Travis Dean 38 (82) Matthew Kelly 4/43 (19 overs)
5/269d (64 overs) Sam Whiteman 104 (162) Jon Holland 2/60 (10 overs)		206 (64.3 overs) Matthew Short 37 (56) Joel Paris 5/33 (18 overs)

• Victoria won the toss and elected to field.
• Joel Paris (Western Australia) scored his maiden century in first-class cricket.

Round 8

South Australia	v	Victoria
333 (118.1 overs) Travis Head 76 (164) Jon Holland 5/82 (33.1 overs)		365 (112.3 overs) Sam Harper 106* (167) Daniel Worrall 3/86 (25 overs)
9/329 (105 overs) Henry Hunt 127 (253) Jon Holland 4/90 (31 overs)

• South Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
• Todd Murphy, James Seymour (Victoria) and Samuel Kerber (South Australia) all made their first-class debuts.

New South Wales	v	Queensland
381 (124.2 overs) Jason Sangha 103 (202) Brendan Doggett 4/79 (25 overs)		433 (138.2 overs) Marnus Labuschagne 112 (212) Nathan Lyon 6/128 (20 overs)
5/145 (56.2 overs) Matthew Gilkes 66 (135) Mitchell Swepson 4/60 (25 overs)

• Queensland won the toss and elected to field.
• Lachlan Hearne (New South Wales) made his first-class debut.

Tasmania	v	Western Australia
514 (160 overs) Beau Webster 135* (185) Mitchell Marsh 3/84 (22 overs)		219 (75.1 overs) Cameron Bancroft 57 (124) Jarrod Freeman 4/72 (19.1 overs)
6/184d (34.4 overs) Jordan Silk 46 (72) Cameron Gannon 3/66 (12 overs)		304 (81.3 overs) Josh Inglis 54 (38) Sam Rainbird 4/67 (16.3 overs)

• Western Australia won the toss and elected to field.
• Tim Ward (Tasmania) made his first-class debut.

Final

New South Wales	v	Queensland (H)
143 (62.2 overs) Kurtis Patterson 43 (128) Michael Neser 5/27 (13.2 overs)		389 (149.3 overs) Marnus Labuschagne 192 (353) Sean Abbott 4/71 (28.3 overs)
213 (82.1 overs) Daniel Hughes 40 (61) Brendan Doggett 3/37 (14.1 overs)

• New South Wales won the toss and elected to bat.
• This was the first time Queensland had won against New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield Final

Statistics

Most runs

Player	Team	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	Ave	HS	100	50
Cameron Green	Western Australia	8	14	2	922	76.83	251	3	2
Travis Head	South Australia	7	14	1	893	68.69	223	3	3
Marnus Labuschagne	Queensland	8	10	0	821	82.1	192	4	2
Shaun Marsh	Western Australia	8	14	1	734	54.46	135	3	3
Marcus Harris	Victoria	8	13	2	695	63.18	239	2	1

Most wickets

Player	Team	Mat	Inns	Overs	Wkts	Ave	Econ	BBI	BBM	5	10
Nathan Lyon	New South Wales	9	15	412.3	42	25.97	2.64	6/21	10/78	3	1
Jackson Bird	Tasmania	8	15	298.4	35	22.17	2.59	7/18	8/73	1	0
Mitchell Swepson	Queensland	5	10	288.4	32	23.14	2.59	5/55	10/173	3	1
Scott Boland	Victoria	8	12	265.1	30	24	2.71	6/61	8/113	1	0
Jon Holland	Victoria	8	12	296.2	27	28.85	2.62	5/82	9/172	1	0

References

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9. "Australia to start domestic season mid-October in Adelaide bubble". Cricket365. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
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22. ^ "Michael Neser and Ashton Agar achieve rare double in the space of an hour". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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25. ^ "Victoria quarantine forces Shield fixture rejig". Cricket Australia. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
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External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo

• 2020–21 Australian cricket season
• Domestic cricket competitions in 2020–21
• Sheffield Shield seasons
• Cricket events curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic