Nevill misses out as Blues bat first in Shield final

Session times: 9.30am – 11.30am | 12.10pm – 2.10pm | 2.30pm – 4.30pm

The 2021 Marsh Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast LIVE in Australia on Foxtel & Kayo Sports. ABC Grandstand's live radio coverage will also be available on cricket.com.au & the CA Live app. Viewers in NZ can watch via Sky Sport, while fans in other countries can stream via Facebook HERE

New South Wales will be without their captain Peter Nevill for the Marsh Sheffield Shield final, with his stand-in Kurtis Patterson winning the toss and electing to bat first at Brisbane's Allan Border Field.

Nevill has remained in Sydney for the upcoming birth of his second child.

Jack Wildermuth, Queensland's "first-picked" player according to captain Usman Khawaja, has returned to the Bulls XI after missing their last regular season clash for the recent birth of his daughter, with fellow allrounder James Bazley making way.

The Blues have also been boosted by the return of a key allrounder with Sean Abbott coming back into the side after recovering from a hand injury, as young batter Lachlan Hearne drops out of the squad.

Abbott is listed to bat at No.6, above wicketkeeper Baxter Holt, having averaged 75 from No.7 in a breakout season with the bat.

Test seamer Josh Hazlewood is also back in the side at the expense of fellow quick Liam Hatcher, forming a formidable Blues bowling attack along with Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Trent Copeland and Abbott.

Holt will take the gloves in Nevill's absence and is one of three NSW youngsters playing in just his second game of the season, with the departures of Moises Henriques, David Warner and Steve Smith testing their batting depth.

Matthew Gilkes will open the batting for just the second Shield match of his career while Jack Edwards, fresh off his match-winning Marsh One-Day Cup final century on Sunday, has been named having only donned the whites for the first time this summer earlier this month.

Queensland have a far more settled side and have only used 14 players all season, compared to the Blues' 21.

As the top-ranked side, the Bulls have hosting rights, although a draw may not be enough to see them claim the title as has previously been the case, much to Usman Khawaja's irritation.

Rules that see the team that wins more first-innings bonus points awarded the title in the event of a draw, first brought in for the 2018-19 season, remain in place.

Khawaja lauded the return of Wildermuth on match eve and suggested he will likely take the new ball.

"He is probably the first picked in our team," Khawaja said.

"He's a guy who opens the bowling for us at the moment, he bowls beautifully. He locks in, nibbles the ball and then can bat too.

"He's probably one of the most underrated players in our side, just because of the balance he gives to the rest of the team."

The pitch has a green tinge to it and while AB Field is generally batter-friendly, only one of the last four Shield games at the venue has been drawn. 

Marnus Labuschagne looms as the Bulls' danger man with the bat, with the Test star having scored centuries in both the recent drawn clash with the Blues earlier this month as well as in their tense one-wicket defeat to the reigning Shield champions in November.

But Patterson suggested they have come up with fresh plans for him.

"We certainly spent a fair bit of time on Marnus, he's two from two against us this year in our Shield games and he's a world-class player – there's no two ways about it," said the Blues skipper.

"I'm not going to share publicly what we're going to do but we certainly did spend some time (talking about him) and we've got a few tricks up our sleeve that we probably haven't tried yet.

"We can certainly try some different things against him this game."

Queensland XI: Bryce Street, Joe Burns, Marnus Labuschagne, Usman Khawaja (c), Matthew Renshaw, Jimmy Peirson (wk), Jack Wildermuth, Michael Neser, Xavier Bartlett, Mitch Swepson, Brendan Doggett

NSW XI: Daniel Hughes, Matthew Gilkes, Kurtis Patterson (c), Jason Sangha, Jack Edwards, Sean Abbott, Baxter Holt (wk), Mitchell Starc, Trent Copeland, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

2021 Marsh Sheffield Shield final

Queensland v NSW Blues at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, April 15-19. Play begins each morning at 9.30am AEST

Queensland squad: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, Joe Burns, Brendan Doggett, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Bryce Street, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth

NSW squad: Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Josh Hazlewood, Lachlan Hearne, Baxter Holt, Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Mitchell Starc

The 2021 Marsh Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast LIVE in Australia on Foxtel & Kayo Sports. ABC Grandstand's live radio coverage will also be available on cricket.com.au & the CA Live app. Viewers in NZ can watch via Sky Sport, while fans in other countries can stream via Facebook HERE