In harmony with the look of a construction site that the Bellerive Oval has adopted of late, there has been the sense that something has been building all summer in Tasmanian cricket

Tasmania will be aiming to land a knockout blow on opponent New South Wales at some time over the next 48 hours after it continued to lay a platform for outright victory on the second day of the teams' Pura Cup clash here in Hobart today.

Michael Slater's much-touted return from the wilderness gave way to Tasmania's much-touted tilt at a finals berth as the Tigers assumed early command of the Pura Cup match against New South Wales here in Hobart today.

One of the teams will be attempting to end its season on a spectacular high and the other will be trying to avoid an unspeakable low

One of the worst kept secrets of recent weeks has been confirmed this morning with Michael Slater's appointment to the New South Wales captaincy for the state's closing game of the Pura Cup season.

As the Australian domestic season heads towards a spectacular conclusion, here's our guide - which, by necessity, still contains a wide range of possible outcomes - as to who might finish where.

The overnight announcement of Worcestershire's recruitment of New South Wales paceman Stuart Clark now ensures that at least 12 Australians will play as overseas professionals in the forthcoming English county season.

South Australian selectors have reacted savagely today to their team's recent poor form, dumping four players from the side which suffered an innings defeat at the hands of Tasmania in a Pura Cup match earlier this week.

Mark Waugh will join twin brother Steve on the one-day international sidelines after he today became a further high-profile casualty of Australia's modest recent limited-overs form

New South Wales cricketer Graeme Rummans' hearing before an Australian Cricket Board (ACB) committee is under way in Melbourne

New South Wales cricketer Graeme Rummans has tonight been handed a one-month ban from representative matches and hit with a fine of $A2000 after being found guilty of a drug offence

Graeme Rummans expressed gratitude and Australia's cricket administrators signalled an ongoing determination to stamp out drug use in the wake of the marathon hearing in Melbourne tonight into the New South Wales batsman's positive test to the banned

Queensland is excellently placed and South Australia will start with its nose in front in the battle within a battle this weekend

Though pages on this site do not normally come complete with warnings, the report of New South Wales' hard-bitten 19-run win over Queensland in today's ING Cup Final in Brisbane arrives with at least two in close attendance.

New South Wales will arrive at the 'Gabba tomorrow missing a brace of its best players, with injury threatening the capacities of another, and with a young batsman cooling his heels at home as he waits for a drugs hearing that will shape his future

New South Wales cricket has suffered a major setback ahead of Sunday's ING Cup Final against Queensland with the news today that batsman Graeme Rummans has tested positive to the banned masking agent probenecid.

Tasmania's finals prospects suffered a bad setback and Victoria's hopes of even remaining in the race were just as adversely afflicted

Stubborn lower order batting has been Tasmania's prerogative for much of this season

The batting of Darren and Damien featured in the lead-up to a declaration

When then Tasmanian captain Jamie Cox announced in October that he was stepping aside to allow Ricky Ponting to inherit his job, scarcely anyone could have foreseen that the move would have had such far-reaching implications in such a short space of