Sydney: Brett Lee kept his name at the forefront of the Test selectors with a second five-wicket haul to lead New South Wales to a convincing Sheffield Shield cricket victory over Tasmania on Sunday. Paceman Lee, dropped from the Australian Test team for Andy Bichel last week, added 5 for 86 to a first innings 5 for 63 for 10 match wickets as NSW trounced Tasmania by an innings and eight runs late on the third day. He was well supported by fellow Test discard and leg-spinner Stuart MacGill, who added three wickets to his four from the first innings as Tasmania crumbled to be all out for 258 in its second innings. Tasmania always faced a tough task after scoring 171 in its first innings and NSW posted 437 for eight declared in reply on the back of an unbeaten 201 by Michael Bevan. In Melbourne, the Victorian team was angry after its match against champions Queensland was taken into the fourth and final day. The umpires called stumps once the day's allotted overs had been bowled, with Victoria 23 runs short of an outright win. Victoria was 140 for five chasing 163 and it felt the umpires should have taken the option of playing another half an hour, as permitted under competition rules. Not out batsmen Brad Hodge (32) and Craig White (16) wanted to keep playing, while the Queensland team could not leave the field quickly enough. In Perth, a solid century by middle-order right-hander Chris Davies guided South Australia into a strong position against Western Australia at the WACA Ground. Davies hammered 125 from 170 balls in three and a half hours as his side made 271 for eight wickets before declaring in its second innings, leaving the home team with a difficult victory target of 414 runs on a wearing pitch. Western Australia began its second innings badly, losing two wickets for 13 runs before Marcus North (23 not out) and Murray Goodwin (21 not out) took it to 58 for two at stumps. In the South Australian second innings, Davies was well supported by Shane Deitz (52).

Extras:
Woeful Eng crushed, Australia takes first Test
Kallis puts South Africa on top; bowler Perera banned

Tags: cricket, sydney, brett lee, new south wales, sheffield shield, tasmania, andy bichel, leg spinner, stuart macgill, michael bevan, victoria, queensland, brad hodge, craig white, chris davies, south australia, western australia, waca, davies, marcus north, murray goodwin, shane deitz.