Khawaja, Labuschagne named for Shield opener, Smith set to be rested

October 4, 2024
1:54 pm

Australia Test batters Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have been named in Queensland’s 13-man squad for the opening Sheffield Shield round of the summer but Steven Smith is set to be rested for New South Wales with his batting position in the Test side still be determined.

Despite not having any international commitments until November, just over half of Australia’s incumbent Test XI are expected to turn out for their states when the opening round of the Shield season begins on Tuesday while the injury toll from Australia’s limited-overs tour of the UK has continued with Matthew Short (adductor) and Sean Abbott (hamstring) also set to miss the opening round.

Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood aren’t expected to be named in New South Wales’ squad for their opening clash with South Australia but Nathan Lyon is set to play while Travis Head and Alex Carey seem likely to be named for South Australia, although it may be Head’s only appearance in Shield cricket before the Test summer due to the impending birth of his second child.

Smith, Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood are being set for the second Shield round against Victoria at the MCG, which will also be Scott Boland‘s first match of the season for Victoria as he is being rested from the opening round while he builds up his bowling loads following off-season foot and knee problems. There is a chance, though, that Australia’s big three quicks might not play at all for New South Wales and will instead use the ODI series against Pakistan to build up for the India Test series.

Cameron Green won’t play for Western Australia against Queensland due to his back injury and it is still to be determined how long he will be out for. Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Hardie are set to play but as batters only with both players having their red-ball bowling loads built-up carefully given Green’s injury. It leaves Western Australia with a challenge of balancing their XI with Cricket Australia contracted quicks Lance Morris and Jhye Richardson unavailable while experienced seamer Joel Paris will also miss with a calf issue. Morris is a chance to play in round two for WA but Richardson is not expected to be available for Shield cricket until after the BBL as he is being carefully managed due to his recent injury history.

The state teams are being severely challenged at present as they plan for the opening four rounds due to the huge injury toll amongst Australia’s contracted and fringe players and the scheduling of two Australia A-India A matches in late October and early November on top of the ODI and T20I series against Pakistan.

The careful management of Australia’s Test stars and players on the fringes like Boland, Morris and now Hardie, combined with the injury toll that includes Green, Short, Abbott, Ben Dwarshuis (pectoral), Xavier Bartlett (side), Nathan Ellis (hamstring), Spencer Johnson (hamstring) and Riley Meredith (side), means that most state teams will have major turnover in their XIs across the first month of the season.

Glenn Maxwell looks set to miss the opening Shield round for Victoria but may play in the second against NSW with the Test tour of Sri Lanka on the horizon. Victoria captain Will Sutherland is set to miss the opening round as he is still managing a back issue despite playing and bowling in the opening two One-Day Cup games last week. Peter Handscomb will take over as Victoria captain.

Queensland squad vs WA: Marnus Labuschagne (c), Jack Clayton, Liam Guthrie, Lachlan Hearne, Usman Khawaja, Ben McDermott, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth