Melbourne, 17 October. Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc will play for New South Wales (NSW) against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield at the MCG from Sunday as they prepare for the international summer.
Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will not play in the Shield competition but are expected to play in the one-day cup match at the Junction Oval on October 25. Cummins is not expected to play any red-ball cricket ahead of the Test series against India, while the same may now apply to Hazlewood, as the third round of the Shield overlaps with the start of the ODI series against Pakistan .
Sean Abbott will also return for NSW, having missed the opening round with a minor injury sustained at the end of the England tour, while Nathan Lyon, who took eight wickets against South Australia, will play again.
Starc last played a Shield match in the 2020–21 final against Queensland, while Smith's previous match was against Victoria in February 2021.
Matthew Gilkes, Ryan Hadlee and Liam Hatcher have been left out of the group that played a draw with South Australia at Cricket Central earlier this month.
Other teams will be announced in the coming days.
New South Wales team is as follows- Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Ollie Davis, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Sam Constas, Nathan Lyon, Nick Maddinson, Jack Nisbett, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc.