Shield in focus with Test spots up for grabs

Australia's Test hopefuls enter this week's round of the JLT Sheffield Shield with Justin Langer's words ringing in their ears and the dream of a Baggy Green there for the taking.

On the back of batting collapses in the UAE, uncertainty about Usman Khawaja's fitness following knee surgery and with two batsmen still ranked in the top five of the ICC's Test rankings suspended until next March, spots in the side have never been more open.

"It's very open. Because we're not performing," coach Justin Langer said on Wednesday.

Matthew Renshaw, who returns for Queensland against South Australia from Thursday as he seeks to relaunch his Test career after being overlooked in the UAE, and Victoria captain Peter Handscomb headline the list of options selectors will canvass.

Travis Head, who impressed with a second-innings 72 in Dubai on Test debut, returns for the Redbacks at the expense of Tom Cooper, while the Bulls also welcome back Test squad members Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett.

South Australia are also sweating on the fitness of Callum Ferguson after he tweaked his calf at Redbacks training this morning, with the 33-year-old looking to add to his one Test cap following an impressive run of form in the JLT One-Day Cup.

An under-fire Shaun Marsh has a chance to put his woeful Test series against Pakistan behind him when he turns out for Western Australia at the WACA against Tasmania.

It looms as Marsh's only Shield game before a likely call-up to Australia's one-day squad after he was endorsed by Langer following two hundreds in the winter series against England.

A stack of highly-rated youngsters also have the chance to demand selection before Australia's four-match Domain Test series against India starts in Adelaide on December 6.

Victoria's Will Pucokvski will miss this round of cricket due to illness following last week's 243 against Western Australia. But SA opener Jake Weatherald, Tasmania's Jake Doran, Queensland left-hander Sam Heazlett, NSW teenagers Jack Edwards and Jason Sangha, and Western Australian Josh Philippe are among the young batsmen to have shouldered the burden of being the 'next big thing' as juniors.

Trevor Hohns started his current stint as chairman of selectors blooding Renshaw, who had played 12 first-class games at that point.

Langer has reiterated he wants to pick whoever is making the most runs.

"Whether you're an 18-year-old wonderboy or a 30-year-old run machine," Langer told radio station SEN.

Realistically, a couple of Shield centuries could catapult any batsman into contention.

Former Test opener Chris Rogers, who mentors the next generation of stars as a high performance coach with Cricket Australia, describes it as good pressure.

"It's how players go about coping with that stress and focusing on what they're doing now, rather than worrying about what could happen in three or four weeks," Rogers told AAP.

"There's always that thought at the back of your mind that if you do well there might be an opportunity to play for Australia and realise your life's dream.

"It can all happen very quickly. But these young guys really have to earn their way into that side."

Philippe produced a maiden first-class ton last week, while Edwards and Sangha each made their Blues Shield debut last week in Adelaide.

Weatherald and Doran finished fourth and fifth respectively on last season's list of run-scorers.

"There's so much to like about a lot of players coming through," Rogers said.

"If the coaches as a group can help these players, in a few years we might actually see an upsurge in our batting stocks."

The NSW Blues were forced into two late changes when bowler Sean Abbott was a late withdrawal for personal reasons, while Steve O'Keefe has picked up a mild calf strain.

JLT Sheffield Shield Round 2 squads

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

In: Head. Out: Tom Cooper

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. 

In: Doggett, Neser, Renshaw. Out: Max Bryant, Nathan McSweeney, Sam Truloff.

Victoria: Peter Handscomb (c), Fawad Ahmed, Scott Boland, Jackson Coleman, Travis Dean, Andrew Fekete, Seb Gotch, Marcus Harris, Matt Short, Chris Tremain, Eamonn Vines, Cameron White.

In: Vines. Out: Will Pucovski (illness)

NSW: Peter Nevill (c), Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Daniel Fallins, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Kurtis Patterson, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha.

In: Conway, Fallins. Out: Sean Abbott, Steve O'Keefe (calf).

Western Australia: Ashton Turner (c), Will Bosisto, Hilton Cartwright, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Josh Philippe, Usman Qadir, Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Jonathon Wells.

In: S Marsh, Richardson. Out: Simon Mackin.

Tasmania: George Bailey (c), Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Riley Meredith, Simon Milenko, Sam Rainbird, Tom Rogers, Jordan Silk, Matthew Wade, Charlie Wakim, Beau Webster

In: Wakim.