Stars up again on Thursday
http://www.cricket.com.au/news/shef...ers-south-africa-series-watch-live/2018-02-05
Nine members of Australia's Test squad to tour South Africa will tune-up for the four-match series when the JLT Sheffield Shield resumes on Thursday.
Skipper Steve Smith (rested) and stand-in T20I captain David Warner will miss NSW's match in Perth, as will pace trio Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, while wicketkeeper Tim Paine has been rested for Tasmania's game in Brisbane.
But Cameron Bancroft, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson (all Western Australia), Peter Handscomb, Jon Holland (both Victoria), Nathan Lyon (NSW), Usman Khawaja (Queensland) and Jackson Bird (Tasmania) are all available to return to the first-class arena ahead of the showdown with the Proteas.
The Shield competition will resume with less than 12 points separating first-placed NSW and last-placed Victoria with five rounds to go before the final at the end of March.
Sheffield Shield Points Table
Pos. P W L D Bat Bowl Pts
1
New South Wales 5 3 1 1 2.34 3.6 24.94
2
Queensland 5 2 1 2 2.82 4.6 21.42
3
Tasmania 5 2 2 1 1.64 5 19.64
4
Western Australia 5 1 2 2 5.36 4.2 17.56
5
South Australia 5 1 2 2 4.16 3.9 16.06
6 Victoria 5 0 1 4 4.51 4.6 13.11
Western Australia v NSW Blues at the WACA Ground
The Blues have named five fast bowlers in a 13-man squad for their trip west, as well as Test spinner Nathan Lyon.
Following the retirement of Doug Bollinger and with their three Test quicks unavailable, NSW have named young paceman Charlie Stobo alongside uncapped right-armer Mickey Edwards.
The side will be captained by former Test wicketkeeper Peter Nevill, who pointed out the NSW squad has been back in red-ball mode longer than their WA-based opponents because of the Sydney clubs early exit in the BBL|07 season.
"With the BBL break there is no real momentum for any side, everyone starts fresh," Nevill told reporters in Sydney. "We get to take stock, reassess and hit thr ground running. We've had more red-ball preparation than our opponents, so in that sense we are the best prepared we can be.
"There's some exciting potential there (in the fast-bowling line-up), I'm very much looking forward to seeing what they can produce at this level."
The Warriors are expected to name their squad later today.
NSW Blues: Peter Nevill (c), Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Ed Cowan, Mickey Edwards, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Kurtis Patterson, Gurinder Sandhu, Charlie Stobo