Several of Australia's top T20 men's players will be back in action for their states this week
Head leads Aussie state inclusions after World Cup exit
Travis Head is back to spearhead South Australia's push to reach a second straight Sheffield Shield final as members of Australia's T20 squad return to domestic cricket following their early exit from the T20 World Cup.
Josh Inglis, Cooper Connolly (both Western Australia), Matthew Renshaw (Queensland), Matthew Kuhnemann (Tasmania) and Sean Abbott (NSW) will join Head in turning out for their respective states in round nine of the Shield, beginning this Thursday.
Head's availability for this week's clash with NSW before joining Indian Premier League side Sunrisers Hyderabad will be a major boost for the defending champions who are locked in a tight tussle with Queensland in the race to face Victoria in the Shield final later this month.
SA are (33.43) less than a point behind the second-placed Bulls (34.38) with two rounds to go, with the Tigers (28.23) and Blues (27.83) further back but still a chance of claiming second spot. WA (17.19) are the only team out of contention and sit at the bottom of the standings with one win from eight games.
Test opener Head, who batted at No.4 in his last appearance for his state in November prior to taking over from Usman Khawaja during the Ashes, will suit up alongside Aussie teammate Alex Carey, who has been a fixture for the Adelaide Strikers and SA sides since the end of the Test summer.
Head and Inglis will only be available for round nine, with the latter also part of the Sunrisers' squad for the second half of IPL 2026 following his wedding in early April, while Cameron Green will play for WA in round 10 as a specialist batter before linking up with Kolkata Knight Riders.
Renshaw, Kuhnemann and Abbott will be available for each of the remaining two rounds as well as the Shield final if their team qualifies.
Alongside Abbott, Adam Zampa and Ben Dwarshuis will be available for NSW as they seek to lift the Dean Jones Trophy when they take on Tasmania in the One-Day Cup final in Hobart on March 11 where the Tigers will have Australian quick Nathan Ellis at their disposal.
"You want big players for big games … it's always a treat when we get those guys back," stand-in NSW captain Kurtis Patterson said after his side beat Tasmania last month to clinch their spot in the domestic 50-over decider.
"It gives us a lot of options. (But) we've got a Shield game (against SA) in between that is also must win for us, so we'll park the one-day stuff for 10 days until we finish that."
Steve Smith won't play for NSW however ahead of his Pakistan Super League campaign with Sialkot Stallionz, while national T20 captain Mitch Marsh retired from first-class cricket after his last Shield appearance for WA in December.
Xavier Bartlett is also unavailable for Queensland on Thursday as he builds up his workloads following the T20 World Cup, but he'll be available for their round 10 clash with Tasmania before heading to the IPL to join the Ricky Ponting-coached Punjab Kings.
Consecutive losses to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka saw Australia eliminated at the group stage of a men's T20 World Cup for the first time in almost 17 years, which has given the nation's top T20 players an extra fortnight at home and a chance to represent their states before most depart for T20 franchise commitments.
The World Cup reaches the knockout stage this week with South Africa to face New Zealand (Thursday 12.30am AEDT) and England to take on co-hosts India (Friday 12.30am AEDT) in the semi-finals, with the two winners meet in Ahmedabad on Sunday night (Monday 12.30am AEDT).
Sheffield Shield 2025-26 standings
| Team | M | W | L | D | N/R | Ded. | Bat | Bowl | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
VIC
|
8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.46 | 7.3 | 50.76 |
|
2
QLD
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8.18 | 6.2 | 34.38 |
|
3
SA
|
8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.83 | 7.6 | 33.43 |
|
4
TAS
|
8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3.73 | 6.5 | 28.23 |
|
5
NSW
|
8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.93 | 6.9 | 27.83 |
|
6
WA
|
8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.99 | 7.2 | 17.19 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points