Vics, Blues leave it late to name XIs

Victoria skipper Travis Dean and NSW counterpart Peter Nevill will leave crucial selection decisions until after a pitch inspection on the opening morning of the JLT Sheffield Shield final.

The five-day match gets underway on Thursday at Junction Oval with both captains keen to have a look at the wicket before finalising their line-ups for the decider.

The table-topping Vics suffered a blow with in-form batsman Nic Maddinson ruled out with a fractured thumb suffered in last week's win over South Australia.

Cameron White, Sam Harper and Eamonn Vines have been added to a 14-man squad, with White appearing the logical replacement for Maddinson.

A replacement for Maddinson isn't the only consideration for Victoria, who have experimented with four quicks and spinner Jon Holland as well as playing an extra batsman at the expense of one of the seamers in recent games.

Should the Vics opt for a five-man bowling attack again, James Pattinson would bat at No.7 ahead of fellow bowlers Peter Siddle, Chris Tremain, Scott Boland and Jon Holland, meaning Seb Gotch would bat at No.6 and take the wicketkeeping gloves.

But if the Vics want to strengthen their batting, they could bring in Harper to keep wickets, play Gotch as a frontline batsman and face the difficult decision on one of their five star bowlers.

On Wednesday, Dean admitted to some concern over his own form in recent weeks before he struck his first half-century since Christmas against the Redbacks.

"I've been lean on runs, to get runs any time is great especially when you're down as much as I have been," Dean said.

"Any time you get runs leading into a big game it's a good confidence booster.

"Everybody has got a few nerves leading in, so to get some runs and back myself in is good for me."

The Vics beat the Blues twice during the summer, but Nevill said his side will enter the contest full of confidence after a strong finish to the season.

Nevill, who missed last week's win over Tasmania to be at the birth of his first child, and spinner Stephen O'Keefe have both been added to the extended squad.

Nevill will take the gloves from Baxter Holt and while O’Keefe is expected to play after a hamstring injury, squeezing him into the side will be no easy task given the hot recent form of quicks Trent Copeland, Sean Abbott and Harry Conway.

"It's been a very eventful week, but the timing has worked out very well," Nevill said of the birth of his daughter.

"I've been drinking a lot of coffee and sleeping on a little fold-out mattress in the hospital, but I'm feeling really good.

"I had a good hit on (Tuesday) in Sydney so I'm feeling well prepared."

Unlike previous seasons, a draw won't necessarily be enough for the home side to lift the trophy, with Cricket Australia adopting the bonus point system used during the regular season for the final for the first time.

The JLT Sheffield Shield final will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Sports and live streamed on Kayo from 10.15am AEDT on March 28

Victoria: Scott Boland, Travis Dean (c), Andrew Fekete, Seb Gotch, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Matt Short, Peter Siddle, Chris Tremain, Cameron White, Eamonn Vines.

NSW Blues: Peter Nevill (c), Sean Abbott, Nick Bertus, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Steve O’Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Jason Sangha, Greg West.