Josh Hazlewood will make his long-awaited return to competitive cricket for New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield match against Queensland, marking his first appearance of the season. The experienced fast bowler had been sidelined due to illness but is now set to ramp up his preparations for the upcoming Test series against India.
Hazlewood’s inclusion in the NSW squad comes as Nathan Lyon has been rested after bowling a significant number of overs in the previous two Shield matches. The legspinner is expected to return for the Test series but will not feature in the upcoming fixture.
The absence of Lyon and several other players due to international and Australia A commitments has significantly impacted the teams for round three of the Shield. NSW will be without Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, Sean Abbott, Sam Konstas, and Josh Phillippe, while Queensland will miss Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Mark Steketee, Gurinder Sandhu, and Callum Vidler.
Despite the player unavailability, both NSW and Queensland have named strong squads. NSW will welcome back allrounder Jack Edwards from a hamstring injury, while Tanveer Sangha will replace Lyon as the legspinner. Queensland will be led by Mitchell Swepson, with Usman Khawaja and Matthew Renshaw providing experience in the batting lineup.
South Australia, who are also missing key players due to national and Australia A call-ups, will be captained by Alex Carey. The wicketkeeper-batsman has been in excellent form and will be looking to continue his run-scoring against Victoria.
The upcoming round of Shield matches will provide valuable preparation for the players involved in the upcoming Test series against India. Hazlewood’s return will be particularly important for NSW, as he aims to regain match fitness and sharpness ahead of the first Test in Nagpur.
