Finch, White left out by Bushrangers

Victoria will hand a debut to young opening batsman Travis Dean in their opening Sheffield Shield match of the season against Queensland tomorrow, with Aaron Finch and Cameron White both overlooked by selectors.

ODI quick James Pattinson, who finished the Matador Cup as the tournament’s equal-third highest wicket-taker with 14 victims at 19.42, has been included in the 12-man squad but it remains to be seen whether he will feature against the Bulls as he continues to be carefully managed following a series of back and hamstring injuries, with the XI set to to be named shortly before tomorrow's 2pm start. 

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Left-arm spinner Jon Holland was also overlooked, despite also taking 14 wickets in the Matador Cup, as leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed returns to the defending champs' line-up off the back of a remarkable 2014-15 Shield season in which he took 48 wickets.

“Holland pulled up with a sore shoulder after the Matador Cup and is undergoing treatment, we expect him to be available in a couple of weeks,” said Victorian chairman of selectors Andrew Lynch.

“Fawad bowled a lot of overs in the Futures Leagues last week and improved as the match went on.

“As our Sheffield Shield Player of the Year last season, we look to him to have a similar influence this year.”

John Hastings missed last season's final but has forced his way back into the XI following an impressive Matador Cup campaign, and will be joined in the attack by Scott Boland and Peter Siddle, the latter of whom will be desperate to impress in what will be a final audition ahead of the first Test against New Zealand, beginning November 5 in Brisbane. 

The exclusion of Finch is a major blow to the opening batsman, who played county cricket in Yorkshire this year in order to increase the amount of red-ball cricket he was being exposed to as he chases a spot in Australia's Test team. 

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“Playing games in a row in the one format is important,” Finch said last month. “You start to understand your game a bit better and understand what you need to do to score runs consistently.

“I’d grab any (Test) spot available. (This season) does give me a great opportunity to play a lot of Shield games in a row."

The 28-year-old made 112 runs at 18.66 in seven Matador Cup innings. 

Opening batsman Dean, 23, made an emphatic case for selection with 217no and 63 for Victoria Under 23s last week, backing up some impressive showings for the same side last season, with scores of 116 and 187 no.

“We contracted him after a big year he had in Premier Cricket and at the next level in Futures League,” Lynch said.

“He’s obviously in good form and he really deserves a shot in the top order where we think he can do well for us.  

“If Finch had been selected it would have been as an opener and on this occasion Dean has been selected ahead of him.”

White's exclusion comes after the batsman and former skipper was left out of the Bushrangers XI in last season's final. 

Victoria: Matthew Wade (c), Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Dan Christian, Travis Dean, Peter Handscomb, John Hastings, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Rob Quiney, Peter Siddle, Marcus Stoinis. Twelfth man to be named pre-match.