Steve Smith and Mitchell Starc have decided to play for New South Wales (NSW) in the Sheffield Shield 2024-25 round two. With a little over a month left before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 kicks off, the Australian Test greats have decided it’s time to get into the red-ball groove. They’ll join the likes of Nathan Lyon and Seam Abbott as NSW takes on Victoria at the MCG on October 23.
For the unaware, the Sheffield Shield is Australia’s premier first-class tournament, similar to the Ranji Trophy in India. The first round of the tournament ended on October 11, following which Australia named its A-side, which included Scott Boland, Marcus Harris, Sam Konstas, Michael Neser, and Todd Murphy.
Cummins & Hazlewood decide to skip Sheffield Shield
Smith and Starc are set to make a rare appearance in the Sheffield Shield; they haven’t last played for NSW for more than three years. Their teammates, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, won’t be playing, but they might feature in the One-Day Cup, which kicks off on October 25.
Smith & Starc’s objectives
All the focus would be on Smith’s batting position. Now that it’s confirmed that he won’t open, the star batter is expected to play his first game at No. 4 in quite a while. It’ll be fascinating to see how he returns to the position where he’s found most success. As for Starc, his Test returns haven’t been great despite facing weaker oppositions, and before the BGT, he would love to get back into form.
Victoria hasn’t announced their squad yet. But, Starc, Smith, and Lyon are expected to go against Scott Boland and Glenn Maxwell at the MCG. The squads for the other two matches, Queensland vs South Australia and Western Australia vs Tasmania aren’t out yet.
New South Wales squad for 2nd round
Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Ollie Davies, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (c), Sam Konstas, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Jack Nisbet, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc.
