Shield latest: Short recalled, Wade and Starc return

The recall of D'Arcy Short and the returns of Test pair Matthew Wade and Mitchell Starc headline what promises to be an action-packed round of the Marsh Sheffield Shield in Adelaide from Friday.

The hard-hitting Short comes back into the Western Australia set-up for their clash with Tasmania at the expense of Ashton Turner, with stiff competition for places among the early competition front-runners.

"It's a great opportunity for D'Arcy, who has worked hard recently and will provide us a strong all-round option with both bat and ball," said head coach Adam Voges.

"Ashton was a hard decision, but ultimately his recent form hasn't been his best and it means he misses this match.

"It's a strong group which leads to some tough selection decisions."

Short, who has played 28 limited-overs internationals, gets his first opportunity at first-class level since November 2019, with the left-handed batsman and left-arm wrist-spinner having spent time working on that latter skill through the off-season.

"There's been a bit of a shift there (towards seeing himself as an allrounder)," Short told cricket.com.au recently. "Not wanting to take away from my batting, but just adding another string to what I can do … the last four to five months actually working on my bowling and showing I can be a lot more consistent and creative with my bowling (has been beneficial)."

The Western Australians will also unleash allrounder Cameron Green with the ball for the first time in a year, after the 21-year-old was today selected in his Australia's white-ball squad for the upcoming series against India, while Test batsman Matthew Wade joins the Tigers after missing the opening two matches to spend time with family. 

New South Wales have included Test duo Nathan Lyon and Starc in their 12-man squad for their match with Queensland, with the left-arm pace spearhead set to end a first-class cricket absence that dates back to January.

The Blues tearaway told cricket.com.au this week he was looking forward to bedding down some tweaks to his action ahead of the Test series against India.

"To have a couple of Shield games now, to just focus on that and continue to reinforce some of the little changes I've made over the last couple of months, it's a good chance to make that happen against some good domestic players," he said.

"The wickets have been quite flat here so it's just a chance to hone those skills on wickets that aren't offering too much."

For their first Shield match of the summer, against South Australia, Victoria have named a pair of 20-year-old rookies in Zak Evans and Mitch Perry.

The Vics have been in Adelaide preparing for the Sheffield Shield season for almost a month, with two of those weeks under strict quarantine restrictions where players could only train in groups of four.

Rogers confirmed Perry, who he has previously compared to a young Damien Fleming, is a chance to open the bowling while fellow uncapped speedster Evans also could play.

The Redbacks will be without regular opener Jake Weatherald, who has taken time off for mental health reasons, while swing bowler Daniel Worrall returns to first-class cricket for the first time since March in place of Australia limited-overs paceman Kane Richardson, whose wife is expected to give birth to their first child soon.

- With Louis Cameron, in Adelaide

Squads for Shield games beginning October 30

Western Australia: Shaun Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Cam Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Cameron Gannon, Cameron Green, Liam Guthrie, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Lance Morris, D’Arcy Short, Sam Whiteman

Tasmania: Tim Paine (c), Tom Andrews, Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Nathan Ellis, Sam Rainbird, Peter Siddle, Jordan Silk, Matthew Wade, Charile Wakim, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Mac Wright

New South Wales: Peter Nevill (c), Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland, Harry Conway, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Solway, Mitchell Starc

Queensland: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, Joe Burns, Blake Edwards, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, James Peirson, Lachlan Pfeffer, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Bryce Street, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth

Victoria: Peter Handscomb (c), Scott Boland, Travis Dean, Zak Evans, Seb Gotch, Marcus Harris, Jon Holland, Nic Maddinson, Mitch Perry, Will Pucovski, Matt Short, Will Sutherland

South Australia: Travis Head (c), Wes Agar, Will Bosisto, Tom Cooper, Brad Davis, Callum Ferguson, Henry Hunt, Conor McInerney, Harry Nielsen, Lloyd Pope, Chadd Sayers, Liam Scott, Cameron Valente, Daniel Worrall, Nick Winter