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Double boost for Vics as fitness fears ease

Bushrangers receive good news with opener Chris Rogers and fast bowler James Pattinson both expected to play

Victoria has received a double boost with Test players Chris Rogers and James Pattinson both expected to be cleared to play in the Bupa Sheffield Shield final.

Rogers was a doubt for the five-day match against Western Australia after a glute strain forced him to retire hurt on 69 on Sunday during the Commonwealth Bank Bushrangers' 400-run victory against Tasmania.

Scans on Tuesday afternoon confirmed a grade one strain but is minor enough that Victoria are confident the 37-year-old left-hander will be fit to play, but he does face a fitness test on Friday ahead of the Shield final's opening day on Saturday.

"At this stage we're going to give him all the opportunities (to recover), and (he) will be given a fitness Test on Friday," Bushrangers physiotherapist Nick Adcock told Fairfax.

"We're definitely going to take him down to Hobart and he'll have the opportunity to prove his fitness. He's pretty keen to play.

"If he was a bowler I think the story would be different, but being a batter I think that's something he can probably play through. I'd say there's a fair chance (he will play).

"He was getting a bit nervous so he was pretty happy today when it (the scans) didn't come back too significant."

Pattinson picked up a minor hamstring injury and has been undergoing treatment at the Bupa National Cricket Centre in Brisbane while Victoria played their final two Shield games.

Image Id: ~/media/2ECC08445FB74C9F8E14B314DF36AB63

Pattinson has been recuperating at the NCC // Getty Images

Adcock added that Pattinson had recovered enough that he is expected to take the new ball to form a Baggy Green opening combination alongside Peter Siddle.

"He's got through very well. He's been running at 100 per cent all last week and he's been bowling off a full run, at 100 per cent, on Friday, Saturday and Monday," Adcock said.

"From their (Cricket Australia officials') point of view and our point of view he's available for selection. We expect him to play."

"He's very pumped, very excited. We're looking forward to seeing him in action for the big game."

The Shield final will be held at Hobart's Blundstone Arena over five days from Saturday. Victoria won the right to host the five-day first-class final after finishing 7.49 points clear of the Alcohol.Think Again Western Warriors on the Shield ladder.

However, with the MCG hosting the World Cup final and no other suitable option in the state – work has yet to begin on a $25m upgrade of facilities at Junction Oval – Cricket Victoria nominated the Tasmanian capital as its preferred venue.

The choice of venue wasn’t seen favourably in the west, with the Western Australian Cricket Association entertaining the prospect of a Federal Court injunction, believing it was contrary to CA's Playing Conditions for the Shield.

However, WACA CEO Christina Matthews on Tuesday dropped that avenue saying they would instead focus their energies on preparing for the final.

Quick Single: WACA drop Shield final protest

While Pattinson is hoping to make his Australia return with winter tours to the West Indies and the UK, Rogers has indicated that the 2014-15 Shield season will more than likely be his last for Victoria, and that his international career is also likely to conclude at the end of the upcoming Ashes in August.

Australia's Test opener has scored 32 centuries and almost 10,000 runs since debuting for Western Australia in 1998. The left-hander has scored 390 runs at 48.75 this season with one century and three fifties.