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Australia’s Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have been included in Queensland’s 13-man Sheffield Shield squad for the first round of the season, but Steven Smith will be rested for the trip to New South Wales, where his Test team position is still up in the air.
Just over half of Australia’s current Test XI are expected to represent their states when the Shield season gets underway on Tuesday, even though they don’t have any international commitments until November. Additionally, Matthew Short (adductor) and Sean Abbott (hamstring) are expected to miss the opening round due to injuries sustained during Australia’s limited-overs tour of the UK.
Although Nathan Lyon is expected to play and Travis Head and Alex Carey are likely to be named for South Australia, it is unlikely that Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood will be included in the New South Wales squad for their opening match against the Australians. Head’s appearance in Shield cricket may be his only one before the summer Test season, given the impending birth of his second child.
For Victoria’s second Shield round match at the MCG, Smith, Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood are being called up. This will be Scott Boland’s first game of the season as he is being rested from the opening round while he builds up his bowling loads after off-season foot and knee problems.
Due to a back ailment, Cameron Green will not play for Western Australia against Queensland; the extent of his absence is unknown. Due to Green’s injury, Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Hardie will only be playing as hitters; both players have carefully built up their red-ball bowling loads. Due to the absence of Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris, two quicks signed by Cricket Australia, as well as the calf problem of seasoned seamer Joel Paris, Western Australia will need to carefully balance their XI.
Most state teams will have a significant amount of turnover in their starting lineups during the first month of the season due to the careful management of Australia’s Test stars and fringe players like Boland, Morris, and now Hardie, as well as the injury toll that includes Green, Short, Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis (pectoral), Xavier Bartlett (side), Nathan Ellis (hamstring), Spencer Johnson (hamstring), and Riley Meredith (side).