Western Australia will go into the Sheffield Shield final against Tasmania with an untested opening combination after Cameron Bancroft was ruled out with a concussion.
An avid cyclist, Bancroft came off his bike and struck his head while riding in Perth this week.
Losing Bancroft is a massive hit to WA. The 31-year old is the Shield's most prolific run scorer across the past five seasons, and is second-leading run-scorer in the 2023-2024 competition.
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Only Tasmanian Beau Webster has scored more runs this season.
Bancroft has opened with skipper Sam Whiteman throughout the summer. They are the only two openers in this season's top-10 run-scorers.
They are also WA's most prolific opening pair, having passed Geoff Marsh and Mike Veletta's 3470 runs in a season earlier this year.
Bancroft was in line for a Test recall following David Warner's retirement.
While it was Steve Smith who took up the vacant opening spot, there are calls for Bancroft to replace him for the India series next summer, with Smith to return to No.4.
It's the third time in successive years an opener has been ruled out of a Shield final at the 11th hour – Victorian Travis Dean last year suffered a concussion in a fielding drill, while Marcus Harris tested positive to COVID-19 in 2022.
Teague Wyllie and Cooper Connolly have both been added to the WA squad. Both have shown strong form in grade cricket in the past months.
Should they win, WA would make Australian cricket history by becoming the first team to do the Sheffield Shield-One Day Cup double three years in a row.
The final gets underway at the WACA on Thursday.
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