Cummins Test-ready after Shield hit out

Australia speedster Pat Cummins has declared himself "ready for Test cricket" after grinding through 20 overs for NSW in their JLT Sheffield Shield match against Queensland.

The speedster took 3-41 from his 20 overs as the Blues bowled out Queensland for 260 in 88.4 overs with the Blues seeking their first Shield win of the season.

Cummins, who is playing his first first-class match since March's Johannesburg Test against South Africa, formed a potent bowling attack alongside Australia teammates Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.

"Anytime you come off a lay-off you've got an idea of how you're travelling but it's not until you play a game that you get a feel for how your form is," Cummins said after day two of the match at Canberra's Manuka Oval.

"For me, not bowling heaps in games over the past few months, knowing I can bowl 20 overs in a day pretty easy, my legs still fresh and I feel ready to do it again in the second innings.

"I feel like I'm ready for a Test match now."

Cummins played in Australia's Gillette ODI series defeat to South Africa, but along with the rest of the Test attack is missing the T20 series against the Proteas and India to fine-tune for the first Domain Test in Adelaide on December 6.

Queensland's tail made the NSW bowlers toil on Saturday with Michael Neser, an unused member of the Test squad in the UAE, scoring his third straight Shield fifty.

And while Queensland's last four wickets added 123 runs, Cummins said the experience was invaluable.

Both in terms of learning about Canberra's Manuka Oval, which will host this summer's final Test against Sri Lanka next February, as well as preparing for India.

"Especially for me, in my role, we'll bowl a spell of bouncers a game, a spell with the old ball just before the new ball, so I got all that practice in, got some miles in the legs," Cummins said.

"I feel like I've covered most of the areas you're going to get in a Test match, and you know what kind of space you're in and how you're bowling, so it was a great hit out before India."

And while the make-up of Australia's top six remains uncertain with no clear contenders to unseat the incumbents emerging in the latest round of Shield cricket, Cummins is confident that won't upset plans to tackle India.

"We've shown when we bowl together, and bowl well, more often than not we're going to get 20 wickets," the 25-year-old said of Australia's Ashes-winning quartet.

"The thing that helped us in the Ashes last summer was how well we batted, and had big breaks between the innings. That's always nice.

"We've got plenty of guys scoring runs in Shield cricket and new guys coming in that did well over in the UAE, so I'm not too worried."