CLAXTON SHIELD 2009   - Latest News

'Flintoff & Dunn' aim to bring you the best possible internet coverage of the upcoming CLAXTON SHIELD competition for 2009 from the various centres around Australia. We hope to be represented at EVERY GAME during the carnival and we will try our best to bring you the latest news.

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CLAXTON SHIELD PREVIEWS

Once again we are humbled by the fact that so many of our loyal Subscribers seem to have looked forward to our traditional pre-Claxton Shield previews. On this occasion we can only apologise for the fact that we didn't receive the team rosters in sufficient time for us to consider doing it again this year.

Instead we will try to give a very broad overview of what we think at this early stage. Once again we will point out the obvious, by explaining that the various State rosters are very likely to change considerably throughout the course of the tournament as the availability of individual players will always dictate. This is likely to be more so this year given the disjointed nature of the fixtures.

The quality of the competition should be extremely high again because of the considerable carrot of selection in the Australian team for the upcoming 2009 World Baseball Classic.

'Flintoff & Dunn' have our own views about the structure and scheduling of this tournament but, to be totally honest, much of our opinion is based on personal circumstances that will not allow us to attend as many games as we have in the past. Just the simple fact that there is just one game in our home city of Melbourne (the sports capital of the universe) is annoying to us and certainly not helping to promote the game here... Adelaide might be thinking the same?

There are also some philosophical issues we have about the value of playing games at regional centres where baseball, I'm afraid, will NEVER flourish in any of our lifetimes and probably long beyond! It's a nice thought, but it just won't happen! In any case we have had reasonable explanations from Baseball Australia, who have issues of their own to consider, so we won't be making any more of this than we just have!

In addition, we are feeling a trifle sad that the Australian Provincial team has vanished from the Claxton Shield scene after playing so gallantly to establish themselves since the 2001/02 summer. Yes, we know that there are logistical and financial reasons why it may have been preferable to go without them this year, but we can still feel some sadness about this.

While we have not had much time to really scrutinise the team lineups, one thing we had to notice immediately was the dramatic turnover of managers / coaches. I'm sure I heard that WA's Championship winning Gordon Gerlach was not available for this year, while both Queensland and South Australia have opted for new leadership. It is a tough gig to manage the Victorian Aces these days with Phil Allen and now David White replaced not long after winning the National Championship. In this case the decision to replace David White was more about the quality of his replacement than any failings of his own. While White's time availability was becoming stretched, Australian baseball GREAT Phil Dale is a full-time baseball man and his credentials were simply too compelling to overlook.

To start with the defending champions from the West, the first thing we notice is among the missing. This starts with their prolific 2008 Helms Award winner Clint Balgera, batting star Luke Hughes, along with ace catcher Allan de san Miguel and quality pitcher Scott Mitchinson. On first glance they would not appear to have covered these omissions so it would be logical to expect some degree of "drop off" from them this summer. Of course, if they get the same ruthless efficiency from their pitchers like Mark Kelly, Liam Hendriks, Dylan Peacock and Brendan Wise they won't need much more!!

For the beaten finalists from NSW, we get the impression that there might be a subtle changing of the guard with an influx of very promising young professionals. However, once again, we could not fail to notice the glaring missing names like Kingman, Oeltjen, D'Antonio and Dening from their offence... not so much veteran Brad Thomas from their pithing. We have to say that NSW will ALWAYS have the talent to be highly competitive but whether they have quite enough to reach another final is not guaranteed this time, even though the "Showcase Round" at Blacktown might help them to get a flying start.

The Victorian Aces were heading to the Grand Final until losing the deciding game in Perth last season in the last couple of innings... that's how tight it was. This year they will start without some solid bats in the shape of Kent, Russell, Johnston, Stokes and Beresford. But, there is a solid look of experience among the Victorian selections. Major league guys Brad Harman and Justin Huber may be available more regularly this summer and the success of the Victorian team might well hinge on how much they can contribute! Oh yes, and then there is pitching consider.

No Nilsson's, no Stockman, no Bevis and no Utting listed on the opening Queensland roster for this summer. But, we still like the look of the Rams' roster with some of the most rapidly improving young professionals who might just be ready to really impose themselves on our national stage. Like Victoria, Queensland narrowly missed the Grand Final last year and they should be right in the mix at the end of this 2009 competition.

Following last year's performance, I don't think that anyone can criticise us for suggesting that SA come into this competition as the team with the most ground to make up. They will certainly not be helped by the glaring absences of names like Brice, Challinor, Ruzic and Mildren. It might prove to be a dangerous ploy, but it would seem to us that opposing teams will take advantage of the hole that Tom Brice will leave in the heart of their batting order by pitching around Ben Wigmore and Stefan Welch. Their pitching will again be sorely tested and, on face value, their relief corps might have another long hot campaign unless they can find better form than they had on display during the last Claxton Shield.

Yeh... alright... we know that you will insist on a bold prediction from us and, to be fair, we have never been scared to have a go. Are we allowed to note that this prediction is as tough, or tougher, than most other years? There is definitely an early impression that the teams have each suffered similar losses and there is an even look about the talent. I guess we will put the first line through South Australia who, on paper, would seem to be a bit behind the others. Next in line for us, unless they get some stars back through the competition is New South Wales... but, once again, the "Showcase Round" is a definite advantage for them to get a running start on home soil.

We really feel that you could throw a blanket over the remaining three teams. We are going to be bold here to predict that the loss of Balgera and Hughes will really hurt the stability of WA's offence and, dare we say, they couldn't possibly get the same MAGNIFICENT pitching this year could they? If they do, they will take the Shield again! We like Victoria and Queensland to just shade the others to reach the Grand Final where, no kidding!, the team who is running hottest should win a keenly contested Championship. We'll toss the coin to find a Victorian win... especially if Harman and Huber fire.

Quite honestly, the only team that would surprise us as Claxton Shield winners in 2009 would be South Australia. But, even they would push themselves back into the picture if Brice, Challinor and/or Ruzic were to reappear at some stage?