All the Sheffield Shield squads for round six

New South Wales v South Australia

SCG, February 5-8

NSW squad: Jack Edwards (c), Sam Konstas, Will Salzmann, Kurtis Patterson, Lachlan Shaw, Josh Philippe, Joel Davies, Charlie Stobo, Tanveer Sangha, Ryan Hadley, Liam Hatcher, Peter Francis

Peter Francis, a 27-year-old lawyer who has played domestic cricket in Ireland, has been named in a 12-man squad for the Blues, who are missing a host of international stars.

Sean Abbott is the latest omission after being called up as a travelling reserve for Australia's T20 World Cup campaign. Nathan Lyon is injured, while Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith are not expected to feature during the back part of the summer.

It has opened the door for Francis, a seam-bowling allrounder who took a club record 61 wickets for St George in Premier Cricket last summer. He has also played for Leinster in Ireland's domestic competition.

His St George teammate Kurtis Patterson will play his 100th Shield match for NSW, the sixth man to do so after Greg Matthews, Phil Emery, Moises Henriques, Geoff Lawson and Peter Nevill.

"I grew up idolising this cricket team, and to play 100 games is something I never thought of, or made a goal, but really proud to be able to tick it off this week," Patterson said on Wednesday.

NSW's home clash at the SCG against the reigning Shield champions will be their first since Cricket NSW announced Greg Shipperd would be coaching his final season.

"It's been a bit of a tough week for all of us," said Patterson.

"It's another curveball we've got to deal with. Really feeling for Greg and to his credit he's taken it like the legend that he is.

"I certainly think it is something that will bring the group together … I think out of respect for him we all need to knuckle down and take it the same (way) and get on with our jobs."

SA squad: Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Mackenzie Harvey, Henry Hunt, Hanno Jacobs, Jake Lehmann, Nathan McAndrew, Nathan McSweeney, Lloyd Pope, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott

The defending champions meanwhile welcome back Ashes star Alex Carey, while recent Test debutant Brendan Doggett will lead the attack on their trip to Sydney.

The absence of Ben Manenti will be felt with the off-spinner away playing for Italy in the T20 World Cup, but Nathan McSweeney adds more international experience for third-placed SA.

Victoria v Queensland

MCG, February 5-8

Victoria squad: Peter Handscomb (c), Dylan Brasher, Xavier Crone, Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Sam Harper, Campbell Kellaway, Blake MacDonald, David Moody, Todd Murphy, Fergus O’Neill, Mitch Perry, Tom Rogers

Footscray batter Dylan Brasher looks set to make his first-class debut while Tom Rogers is in line for a recall for ladder leaders Victoria.

Peter Handscomb will captain the side with Will Sutherland "managed" after the BBL. Todd Murphy and Fergus O'Neill will lead the bowling attack as Scott Boland remains on ice after playing all five Ashes Tests.

Vics coach Chris Rogers said Brasher, this season's leading Premier Cricket run scorer, has undergone a technical overhaul in recent times.

"You can expect a fighter, a guy who's taken the steps and earned his right to be in the squad," said Rogers.

"There's been a lot of very intimate and detailed work that's gone into his game, and I've never once heard him complain and be anything other than open-minded.

"He's got some real nuances to his game that had to be worked through. I think he's more mature and ready now to not just play one game, but to try and have a career."

Queensland squad: Marnus Labuschagne (c), Hugo Burdon, Jack Clayton, Lachlan Hearne, Hayden Kerr, Usman Khawaja, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Jem Ryan, Tom Straker, Mitchell Swepson, Hugh Weibgen, Tom Whitney

The Bulls have been boosted by the return of recently retired Test bat Usman Khawaja, who is "boots in" on trying to win another Sheffield Shield title for Queensland.

Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser are the other big names in the Bulls squad coming up against competition standouts Victoria in the MCG's first red-ball match since the two-day Boxing Day Test.

Khawaja called time on international cricket last month but will play out the summer for Queensland, with teammates expecting it to be his last.

"It's fantastic that he's boots in to try and win a Shield again," Peirson said of Khawaja. "It's fantastic to keep someone like him around our group and hopefully push for a Shield final.

"He's a very passionate Queenslander and he wouldn't come back and do it unless he really had that drive to be part of what we're trying to achieve as a state group.

"It speaks follows to his character to come back after a really nice Test career and a fantastic summer winning the Ashes to come back to try and win a Shield for Queensland.

"Hopefully we can send him off in a good fashion … I'm assuming there! I'd imagine if he's finishing his Test career, I'm assuming that he'll be finishing his first-class career."

Matthew Renshaw's last-minute T20 World Cup call-up robs Queensland of another important run scorer, while Xavier Bartlett is also away on international duties.

Labuschagne's men could be down another key batter after Jack Clayton suffered a recurrence of a knee injury during Tuesday's One-Day Cup defeat to the Vics. Peirson indicated he would be sent for scans.

Paceman Jem Ryan returns from back surgery, while Hayden Kerr is also back with Gurinder Sandhu the most notable exclusion.

Western Australia v Tasmania

WACA Ground, February 5-8

WA squad: Sam Whiteman (c), Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch, Joel Curtis, Sam Fanning, Cameron Gannon, Jayden Goodwin, Aaron Hardie, Liam Haskett, Jhye Richardson, Corey Rocchiccioli, Teague Wyllie

Jhye Richardson is set for his first Sheffield Shield match of the summer as Western Australia resume their campaign against Tasmania at the WACA Ground. Unusually, it will be Richardson's second red-ball match following his return to Test cricket in the two-day Boxing Day Test. The 29-year-old quick's return straight to the Test fold shows how highly he's rated by the national set-up, having been out of action since shoulder surgery early in Janaury 2025.

"We will still work through (a management plan) with Cricket Australia," said WA coach Adam Voges. "Jhye is available for tomorrow and we will welcome him back and enjoy having him back in WA colours.

"It's been a while since he's played Shield cricket... post that we will see where we get to."

Richardson's return is timely given WA will be without Joel Paris or Matt Kelly, while Mitch Marsh, who played the last Shield round in an attempt to make a case for a Test recall, is now at the T20 World Cup.

Paris is on the comeback trail from a groin injury that ended his Big Bash campaign early, but could make his return in next week's match against Victoria. Kelly, however, is some time away from returning from a calf injury.

Also coming back into the fold for WA is right-handed batter Teague Wyllie. The former Australia U19 opener, now 21 years old, is expected to play in the middle order and, if selected, it would be his first match of the Shield season.

Tasmania squad: Jordan Silk (c), Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jake Doran, Caleb Jewell, Raf MacMillan, Aidan O’Connor, Billy Stanlake, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Second-from-bottom Tasmania have welcomed back Jake Weatherald with the Test opener eager to maintain his dominant domestic form ahead of Australia's next long-form assignment against Bangladesh in August.

Weatherald has been the standout batter in the Shield in recent times but is yet to bed down his Test spot, posting 201 runs at 22 in five Tests against England.

Tim Ward, fresh off a breakout KFC BBL campaign, is expected to form an imposing opening combination with his fellow left-hander with the Tigers aiming for three wins from their final four matches to clinch a Shield final berth.

"We know that the team's going to be a lot more dominant at the top with him there," said Ward.

"He can win you a game on day one, he can win your game in the second innings … you know they're going to be under pressure bowling to him.

"We know that having him there, it just makes everyone else's role a little bit easier. For myself, having him score at the other end so freely … makes my game easy, makes everyone else's game easy."

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