Sheffield Shield preview: Tassie have pace to burn

One of the main headaches facing Tasmania coach Jeff Vaughan for the start of the Marsh Sheffield Shield season is not so much which players to pick, but which ones to leave out.

Tasmania head to Adelaide this week boasting one of the strongest pace attacks in the competition, boosted by the off-season signing of former Test paceman Peter Siddle, who will link up with Jackson Bird as well as young guns Riley Meredith and Nathan Ellis in the Tigers' attack.

Speaking to cricket.com.au last week before Tasmania announced their 16-man squad for the opening four rounds of the season, Vaughan said choosing which fast bowlers to leave behind was proving to be a difficult task.

"We think we've got some really good depth with our pace attack and it'll be hard to leave people out of our 16, let alone our XI," he said.

"But the beauty of that is it makes it a really competitive environment and it creates some depth if players are either out of form or suffer an injury.

"We've got a very hungry fast-bowling pack at the moment so we’re looking forward to see how they operate."

The selection of Gabe Bell and Sam Rainbird alongside the aforementioned pace quartet for the trip to Adelaide means the likes of Lawrence Neil-Smith, Alex Pyecroft and Tom Rogers will stay in Tasmania and look to force their way into calculations through Premier Cricket.

Just how effective Tasmania's seamers are on the largely untested venues around Adelaide to start the season is yet to be seen, but the Tigers have two spinning allrounders to choose from as well; new recruit Tom Andrews as well as Beau Webster.

The fact both men have made first-class centuries means, if conditions require it, the Tigers could pick both spinners and still go with a four-man pace attack, with Test skipper Tim Paine likely to bat at No.6.

"That's why he was recruited," Vaughan said of Andrews, the left-armer who joined from South Australia in the off-season.

"He offers depth from a spin perspective and he's someone who has made first-class hundreds so he can be in that middle-order position as well."

Tasmania will be without skipper Matthew Wade for the opening two games of the season. Wade has been granted family time in Hobart ahead of a long summer that's expected to see him float between international, state and Big Bash bubbles.

Squad: 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*, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Beau Webster, Mac Wright *Wade to join squad ahead of Round 3 match against Victoria

Possible Best XI: Alex Doolan, Jordan Silk, Charlie Wakim, Matthew Wade (c), Ben McDermott, Tim Paine (wk), Beau Webster, Peter Siddle, Nathan Ellis, Jackson Bird, Riley Meredith

Last year's Shield result: Fourth

Fixtures:

October 10-13 v Queensland, Park 25

October 19-22 v South Australia, Karen Rolton Oval

October 30-November 2 v Victoria, Park 25

November 8-11 v Western Australia, Park 25

The Inside Word with Jeff Vaughan

The pre-season

"We've been largely unaffected. Apart from the back-end of May when we had to train in small numbers, our official start of pre-season was June 15 and by then we were able to train as a full group. So we've been largely unaffected, apart from not being able to go on a pre-season tour and get some practice in like that. We've had our marquee up and been on turf since June and we've also had some centre-wicket stuff in the past few weeks."

Absences

"Matthew Wade, given the likelihood that he'll be on the road in Australian colours for a fair chunk of the season, he's back in Hobart to spend a bit of time with his family. So he'll miss the first two games and link up with us for games three and four.

"Touch wood, we've had trial games in the last week or so with a full complement of players and we've got a full complement available for selection."

Young gun

"We've got a couple of young fast bowlers coming through in (Lawrence) Neil-Smith and (Iain) Carlisle, and we've also recruited a young lad from Sydney, Tim Ward. He's a nice prospect as a top-order left-handed batsman. Young Mac Wright burst onto the scene last year and made a one-day hundred and had some success in the Big Bash so we're looking forward to him having a good season.”

Key player/s

"Having Peter Siddle come down has been a great addition for our organisation. He's been a wonderful leader among our team and has taken a few of the young fellas under his wing and really guided those young players, not just the quicks. And he and Jackson Bird have formed a great alliance and I was lucky enough to stand behind the wicketkeeper last week and watch Siddle and Bird go about it, and it was just world class and a pleasure to watch. I can't speak highly enough of those two as bowlers and as men and leaders. We're very lucky to have two such quality people and fast bowlers in our group."

Biggest challenge in the hub

"We're really conscious of it. It probably won't have much of an effect in Adelaide, it's probably the ongoing effect over the whole season. There'd be those players and staff who will be in a mini hub in Adelaide but then they'll come home and go into one for the Big Bash and then there's the back-end of the season. We've chosen to update the group with any information we can over the journey. We've got a good mix of senior players who can help in that regard and we're really aware that we make sure we're human beings first and we play cricket outside of that. So we're very aware of the human traits needed for a challenging summer ahead."