Travis Head, Nathan Lyon confirmed to play in first round of Sheffield Shield

The squads for the first round of the Sheffield Shield have been announced and the big news is that neither Steven Smith nor the pace trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc will play in the first round that starts from October 8 (Tuesday). 

However, the New South Wales (NSW) team will still feature a sure-shot starter in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which is Nathan Lyon. 

Lyon will be playing his first match in over three months, having last played for Lancashire towards the end of June.

But while Smith & the big three NSW quicks will not play in the first round, there are other big names who will start warming up from the first round itself.

Travis Head, Alex Carey, Marnus Labuschagne & Usman Khawaja have all been named in their respective teams’ squad for the first Sheffield Shield round. What will be interesting to see is where Head bats for South Australia. 

It’s been speculated that Australia could potentially move Head to the top of the order in Tests to accommodate Smith at No.4. But the left-hander featuring in the middle-order for South Australia should go a long way in clarifying doubts. 

Western Australia have not announced their squad, but it is unlikely that Mitchell Marsh will play in the first round. Cameron Green, it is to be noted, is in a race against time to be fit for the BGT after sustaining a back injury in the ODIs against England.

Sheffield Shield first round squads

New South Wales

Moises Henriques (c), Ollie Davies, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Ryan Hadley, Liam Hatcher, Sam Konstas, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Jack Nisbet, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha

South Australia

Nathan McSweeney (c), Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Daniel Drew, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Conor McInerney, Lloyd Pope, Liam Scott

Queensland

Marnus Labuschagne (c), Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Usman Khawaja, Ben McDermott, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth

Victoria

Peter Handscomb (c), Ash Chandrasinghe, Xavier Crone, Sam Elliott, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Cam McClure, Jon Merlo, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Mitch Perry, Tom Rogers

Tasmania

Jordan Silk (c), Gabe Bell, Jake Doran, Kieran Elliott, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Matt Kuhnemann, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Mitch Owen, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

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