Western Australia will be looking to put a tumultuous week off-field behind them when their Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria starts at the MCG on Thursday.
Marcus North stepped down as captain on Monday – saying his resignation was down to poor form – while out-of-sorts left-hander Shaun Marsh has been dropped from the Shield team.
Ill-disciplined behaviour during the Perth Scorchers' Champions League Twenty20 campaign marked the low point of a poor showing in South Africa, with many of the Scorchers' players part of the Warriors' team.
Australia batsman Michael Hussey has been included to face the Bushrangers and will lead the side, with left-arm paceman Jason Behrendorff also named.
Rookie batsman Sam Whiteman is in line to make his debut as Liam Davis and Nathan Coulter-Nile drop out after being named in the Australia A team to face South Africa in a tour match at the SCG.
The Warriors will be desperate to improve in the four-day format after a shocking start to the season, which has included outright losses to New South Wales and Victoria.
Only Tom Triffitt (137 runs) and Mitch Marsh (123) have scored over 100 runs for the Warriors in the Shield this season.
Shaun Marsh (48 runs at an average of 12) and North (23 runs at an average of 5.75) – two of their most experienced batsman – have struggled.
On the bowling front, Coulter-Nile has led the way in the Shield but is absent, leaving Mitchell Johnson to lead the attack, which he will be eager to do after missing out on a spot in the team to face South Africa at the Gabba in the first Test.
Victoria made an excellent start to their domestic campaign, but were lucky their Shield clash against Tasmania was ruined by rain.
The Tigers were the dominant side but left with just two first-innings points as the Bushrangers stayed top of the table thanks to their two outright wins.
Andrew McDonald backed up his century against Western Australia with a 64 in the meeting with Tasmania, while Peter Siddle (142 runs at 47.33 and nine wickets at 32.11) has played an all-rounder's role early in the season.
James Pattinson (16 wickets) and John Hastings (15) are the Shield's leading wicket-takers, with the former, Siddle and Matthew Wade named in the Test team.
In a huge boost for the Bushrangers, the Test trio will play ahead of the South Africa outing, which starts on November 9.
McDonald will lead the Australia A side and will miss the Warriors clash along with Hastings, Glenn Maxwell and Rob Quiney.
<b>Victoria:</b> Cameron White (c), Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Jayde Herrick, David Hussey, Alex Keath, Clint McKay, James Muirhead, James Pattinson, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Matthew Wade
<b>Western Australia:</b> Michael Hussey (c), Michael Beer, Jason Behrendorff, Marcus Harris, Michael Hogan, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Marsh, Marcus North, Nathan Rimmington, Tom Triffitt, Adam Voges, Sam Whiteman.
First Posted 31 October, 2012 4:28PM AEST
