Shield preview: Patto back for Vics

Victoria paceman James Pattinson is in line to play his first JLT Sheffield Shield match since undergoing major back surgery in November last year, after he was named in a 12-man squad to take on South Australia at the MCG commencing on Saturday.

Back issues have plagued much of Pattinson's career and the 28-year-old hasn't featured for his state since the 2016-17 Sheffield Shield final.

But a recent century for Victoria's Toyota Futures League side and a return to the bowling crease for Premier Cricket team Dandenong has Pattinson set for a return to the first-class scene.

"It's only early days – I'm if I'm still standing here playing at the end of the season I will be happy," Pattinson said on Friday.

"I won't go ballistic with it. I probably won't bowl 40 overs (against SA).

"There might be times when you crank it up a little bit ... 15 months out of the game is a long time."

Fellow fast bowler Peter Siddle also returns to the Victorian squad following the recent Test series against Pakistan in the UAE, while Jon Holland remains on the sidelines as he recovers from the finger he broke while playing for Australia.

Teenager Will Pucovski sits out the MCG clash as he recovers from a mental health-related illness, but Cricket Victoria manager Shaun Graf is hopeful that the impressive youngster will return for the fourth round of Shield cricket.

South Australia have included Callum Ferguson in their squad after the Test hopeful missed the Redbacks' most recent Shield contest against Queensland with a calf complaint.

Experienced seamer Joe Mennie recently overtook Jason Gillespie, Terry Jenner and Ernie Jones to move into outright seventh on South Australia's all-time wicket-takers list and the veteran is eyeing off the scalp of in-form Victorian Marcus Harris.

Harris is fresh from an unbeaten 250 in the last round of Shield action and is in contention to win a Baggy Green for the opening Test of the summer against India next month.

But Mennie has dismissed Harris on 10 occasions in the past – including seven times caught behind – and will be hoping he can claim the valuable wicket of the Victorian at the MCG.

Unchanged Bulls host Warriors

The other Shield game commencing on Saturday will see Queensland host Western Australia at Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

The Bulls are still searching for their first victory of the Shield season, but have stuck with the same 12-player squad that drew with South Australia last month.

Western Australia have been forced to re-shuffle their squad, with allrounder Marcus Stoinis and experienced batter Shaun Marsh in Perth with Australia's ODI squad.

It could mean the Warriors play two teenagers in their final XI for the first time since 2011-12, with Aaron Hardie and fellow 19-year-old Cam Green in line to feature against the Bulls.

Eighteen-year-old's Matt Dixon and Marcus Harris were the last teenage pair to play for Western Australia when they turned out for their state against Queensland at the WACA Ground seven years ago.

Paine returns for Tassie against Blues

The final Shield game of the third round doesn't begin until Monday, but Tasmania have included Test captain Tim Paine in their squad that will travel north to take on New South Wales at the SCG.

Paine was recently dropped from Australia's one-day team, but will doubtless be keen for some Shield action ahead of the first Test of the summer against India.

Paine's inclusion means Matthew Wade will play against the Blues as a specialist batsman, while former New South Wales seamer Gurinder Sandhu is in contention to play against his old state.

New South Wales have the luxury of including Test spinner Nathan Lyon, while fellow tweaker Steve O'Keefe was also named by the Blues following his recovery from a calf strain.

Experienced seamer Sean Abbott has also been included, with allrounder Daniel Sams, leg-spinner Daniel Fallins and fast bowler Mickey Edwards the unlucky ones to make way.

Sheffield Shield squads, Round Three

Victoria: Peter Handscomb (c), Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Travis Dean, Seb Gotch, Marcus Harris, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Matthew Short, Chris Tremain, Eammon Vines, Cameron White (12th man to be named).

South Australia: Jake Lehmann (c), Tom Cooper, Callum Ferguson, Conor McInerney, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Kane Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter

Queensland: Jimmy Peirson (c), Joe Burns, Brendan Doggett, Luke Feldman, Sam Heazlett, Charlie Hemphrey, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson, Jack Wildermuth

Western Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Turner, William Bosisto, Hilton Cartwright, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, David Moody, Josh Philippe, Usman Qadir, Jhye Richardson, Jonathan Wells.

New South Wales: Peter Nevill (c), Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nathan Lyon, Stephen O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Jason Sangha

Tasmania: George Bailey (c), Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Simon Milenko, Tim Paine, Tom Rogers, Clive Rose, Gurinder Sandhu, Jordan Silk, Matthew Wade, Beau Webster