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NSW not feeling Blue despite Cummins loss

Blues pick pace-heavy squad for do-or-die Shield clash with Western Australia

New South Wales captain Moises Henriques says he isn’t fazed by losing fast bowler Pat Cummins for the Blues’ must-win Sheffield Shield clash against Western Australia, with a spot in the competition decider against Victoria on the line.

The Blues will be one of four teams still in the running to meet the Bushrangers in the final when the last round of the regular season gets underway on Thursday, sitting second on the ladder and needing to defeat the Warriors at the WACA to advance.

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But they will have to qualify without the assistance of Cummins, called into Australia’s Test squad as an injury replacement for Mitchell Starc after bowling with pace and accuracy and taking 8-104 in his first Sheffield Shield match since March 2011 last week.

NSW will also be without Hampshire leg-spinner Mason Crane, who has returned to the United Kingdom.

The Blues have included five fast-bowling options in their 13-man squad to travel to Perth, with Sean Abbott – 12th man in NSW’s win over South Australia last round – joined by Harry Conway and Gurinder Sandhu as potential replacements for Cummins and Crane.

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“We’ve been without Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc and many other guys through the years and you just make do,” Henriques said in Sydney on Monday.

“We’ve got some pretty good guys who’ve done the work during the season and who were stiff to miss the last game when Patty came in.

“They’ll came in and get a deserving crack next game now he’s gone, guys like Harry Conway and Sean Abbott who’ve done the job for NSW in the past.”

Henriques said the Blues would likely stick to five frontline bowlers for the must-win match, with NSW expecting a lively WACA pitch given both teams need to win to advance to the final.

“We’ll have a wicket that’s more than likely to produce a result and both teams will be striving for a result,” he said.

“We’re lucky that we’ve got a couple of bowlers who in the past have shown they can chip in with bat, guys like Trent Copeland and Sean Abbott, I’m sure they’ll be looking to up the ante for us in terms of scoring runs at seven and eight.

“In four-day cricket we want to give ourselves the best chance to take 20 wickets every game (and) you want fresh bowlers ready at all times.

“Whenever we’re in doubt in terms of selection, we feel like going that extra bowler rather than the extra batter who might score you an extra 40 runs (is the better option).

“If you get bowled out for 250, 260 in the first innings because you didn’t pick an extra batter, at least the game is still moving forward and you’re still putting yourselves in a position to win the game because you know you’ve got the extra bowler to hopefully take 10 wickets.”

Victoria's win over Western Australia last week means they've already secured their spot in the decider, while Queensland, South Australia and WA are the other teams in contention alongside NSW.

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The Blues, who head into the round with a lead of 2.56 points over Queensland in third, essentially have their fate in their own hands; a victory in Perth would hand them a minimum of six points, which should be enough to qualify for the final unless one of the Bulls or Redbacks record massive victories and pick up more than three or four bonus points.

But a win to the Warriors in Perth should move them ahead of the Blues on the table and, barring other results, qualify them for the final.

But the bonus point system means anything can happen, with the four teams in contention separated by just 6.35 points on the Shield table, a gap that can easily be made up given an outright victory is worth six points, with added bonus points of 0.01 for every run scored above 200 within the first 100 overs, and a 0.1 for each wicket taken within the first 100 overs. 

NSW squad: Moises Henriques (c), Sean Abbott, Doug Bollinger, Trent Copeland, Harry Conway, Ed Cowan, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nic Maddinson, Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Wil Somerville, Gurinder Sandhu