Queensland 274 for December 8 (Khawaja 102*, Clayton 53, Richardson 4-36) and 137 for 3 (Burns 62*) tied with Western Australia 330 (Cartwright 132, Green 96, Sandhu 5-77, Steketee 4-50)
Both captains shook hands at tea on day four at the Gabba with Queensland at 137 for 3 in their second innings and an overall lead of 81.
The loss of two sessions on the opening day due to rain and then more time lost on Wednesday due to poor light meant a result was never likely to be achieved.
Labuschagne was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, and was left out five minutes before lunch on Friday when he beat Charlie Stobo straight to Sam Fanning with a mishit delivery.
With less than two weeks to go before the start of the three-Test series against Pakistan, a long spell in the middle against the red ball would have been a crucial help to Labuschagne’s preparations.
Although Khawaja also failed to score a notable score, he at least faced 215 balls for his unbeaten 102 in the first innings.
Sheffield Shield statistics leaders at half-time:
Bancroft – 512 @ 56.88 McSweeney – 501 @ 45.54 Webster – 498 @ 71.14 Wakim – 443 @ 40.27 Burns – 437 @ 43.70
Tremain – 34 @ 15.20 McAndrew – 30 @ 19.20 Neil-Smith – 25 @ 23.72 Bell – 22 @ 21.27 O’Neill – 21 @ 17.57 #SheffieldShield
– Andrew McGlashan (@andymcg_cricket) December 1, 2023
The tie returned WA (28.22 points) to second place, behind only Tasmania (29.77). Queensland (15.12) remains last, with just one win and two draws in its first six games.
“It was disappointing the first day it rained. I think this could have been a really good game if we hadn’t had that rain on the first day,” Queensland captain Khawaja said. “We missed that day, and then we missed about 20 overs the next night because of the light. It kind of hindered the game.”
WA captain Sam Whiteman was pleased with the way his team battled in the match.
“It was amazing to see Jhye Richardson back in WA colours,” he said. “He loves playing at the Gabba and was super impressive. It’s disappointing not to get the result this week, but he’s happy with three wins from six going into the Big Bash break.”
