Steven Smith and Mitchell Starc will play for New South Wales against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield at the MCG from Sunday as they ramp up preparations for the international summer.
Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood won't feature in the Shield contest but are in line to play the One-Day Cup fixture at Junction Oval on October 25. Cummins is not expected to play any red-ball cricket before the Test series against India while the same may now apply to Hazlewood with the third round of Shield overlapping with the start of the ODI series against Pakistan.
Sean Abbott will also return for NSW after sitting out the opening round after picking up a minor injury late in the England tour while Nathan Lyon, who took eight wickets against South Australia, will again feature.
Victoria have named Scott Boland in what shapes as a fascinating contest with 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas who was called up to the Australia A squad earlier this week after his twin hundreds against South Australia.
Victoria captain Will Sutherland has also been included after bowling 15 overs and making an unbeaten 104 in Victoria's second XI match against Queensland this week. Glenn Maxwell also played in that game, returning scores of 14 and 10 and bowling eight overs across the four days. Maxwell and Matthew Short have not been included in the Shield squad to face NSW but are both expected to return for the One-Day fixture next Friday ahead of the ODI series against Pakistan.
Maxwell could play at least one Shield match for Victoria after the limited overs series against Pakistan as he continues to build his case for a Test recall on next year's tour of Sri Lanka.
Starc last played a Shield match in the 2020-21 final against Queensland while Smith's previous outing was against Victoria in February 2021.
Elsewhere, Travis Head has been rested from South Australia's squad for their clash with Queensland at Allan Border Field in Brisbane due to the imminent birth of his second child. Jake Fraser-McGurk remains on the outer after missing selection for the opening Shield round. Jake Lehmann has instead been named as Head's replacement following his 173 for SA's second XI in their loss to Western Australia last week. Fraser-McGurk made 28 off 13 and 30 off 22 in the same game.
Queensland quick Xavier Bartlett is nearing a return to cricket following the serious side strain he suffered on the tour of the UK but won't play any Shield cricket until late November at the earliest.
"I'll probably play some premier cricket for the Gold Coast. I've got one eye on the T20 series against Pakistan, and then we've got some Shield cricket and one day cricket with Queensland leading into the Big Bash as well," he said.
Western Australia have included allrounder Aaron Hardie for their meeting with Tasmania in Perth although he will play as a batter only as his workload is managed. Mitchell Marsh said he was expected to bowl during the game.
New South Wales squad Sean Abbott, Jackson Bird, Ollie Davies, Jack Edwards, Moises Henriques (capt), Sam Konstas, Nathan Lyon, Nic Maddinson, Jack Nisbet, Josh Philippe, Tanveer Sangha, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc
Victoria squad Will Sutherland (capt), Scott Boland, Ash Chandrasinghe, Sam Elliott, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Cam McClure, Jon Merlo, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Tom Rogers
Queensland squad Marnus Labuschagne (capt), Jack Clayton, Liam Guthrie, Lachlan Hearne, Usman Khawaja, Ben McDermott, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, Tom Whitney
South Australia squad Wes Agar, Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Harry Conway, Daniel Drew, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Conor McInerney, Nathan McSweeney (capt), Liam Scott
Western Australia squad Sam Whiteman (capt), Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Brody Couch , Cooper Connolly, Cameron Gannon, Jayden Goodwin, Aaron, Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Mitch Marsh, Corey Rocchiccioli, Charlie Stobo.
Tasmania squad Jordan Silk (capt), Jake Doran, Kieran Elliott, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Matt Kuhnemann, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Will Prestwidge, Charlie Wakim, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster