Weather permitting, dropped Australian paceman Ryan Harris is set to enjoy a decent workload in the Sheffield Shield cricket match against NSW starting on Thursday.
The major threat to second-placed Queensland’s hopes of picking up precious points could be the weather.
Rain fell in Sydney on Wednesday and was forecast for all four days of the game.
Harris has struggled for form in the international tri-series, playing in four of Australia’s seven matches, taking just three wickets at an average of 57.
Omitted from the Australian one-day and Twenty20 squads for the upcoming West Indies tour, Harris will play just his second Shield match of the season.
Queensland captain James Hopes said he had not been given any directive about how many overs the injury-prone spearhead should bowl against the Blues and felt Harris probably hadn’t bowled enough in recent weeks.
“Ryan, I’m sure, will be itching to get out there and play,” Hopes told AAP on Wednesday.
“He’s been travelling around on the Australian caravan on and off and he hasn’t really played much contested cricket, so I think it will be pretty good for him to get into a four-day environment and start getting ready for what hopefully should be a Test tour of the West Indies for him.
“He’s the sort of bowler that needs to be bowling a lot to be at his best.
“He’s probably been a little bit under bowled and that hasn’t helped his cause.
“He’s someone that needs to bowl a lot to be 100 per cent, so he’s going to get that this week.”
Hopes will have a full-strength attack to choose from for the first time this season.
Fifth-placed NSW will be playing for pride following their humiliating innings and 323-run loss to WA in Perth.
NSW captain Stephen O’Keefe said it was time for less talk and more action from his side following their drubbing at the WACA.
“It is something we need to put behind us and we have,” O’Keefe told AAP.
“Our batting line-up and bowling attack are definitely looking to redeem themselves.”
Teams
NSW: Stephen O’Keefe (capt), Trent Copeland, Scott Coyte, Brad Haddin, Phil Hughes, Simon Katich, Usman Khawaja, Josh Lalor, Nic Maddinson, Peter Nevill, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc, (one to be omitted, 12th man to be named).
Queensland: James Hopes (capt), Cameron Boyce, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Jason Floros, Ryan Harris, Chris Hartley, Alex Kemp, Chris Lynn, Steve Magoffin, Alister McDermott, Andrew Robinson, Wade Townsend (one to be omitted, 12th man to be named).