Veteran Test paceman Ryan Harris will be kept in cotton wool until the mid-year Ashes tour, missing the remainder of Queensland’s Sheffield Shield season.

Cricket Australia has announced an extremely cautious management plan aimed at ensuring the injury-dogged 35-year-old is fit and firing for the tour of the United Kingdom beginning in June.

Harris was a key performer when Australia regained the Ashes in 2013-14, taking 22 wickets at 19.31 and the selectors are determined to ensure he is there to defend the urn.

Harris was already set to miss the upcoming tour of the West Indies, which leads into the UK tour, due to the birth of his first child.

It means he is unlikely to play in another competitive game until the side arrives in England to attempt to win its first Ashes trophy on enemy soil since 2001.

“I want to play as much cricket as I can as I know you are a long time retired but I recognise this is the best approach to ensuring I am absolutely right for The Ashes,” Harris said.

“I have huge ambitions to help us win a series in the United Kingdom and that goal is something that will drive me on over the coming months.”

He will undergo a program of strength and conditioning and gradually increase his workload in the lead up to the Ashes.

His only on-field practice prior to the Ashes will be centre wicket matches against the Cricket Australia high performance squad in Brisbane.

He was rested from the Brisbane Test against India in December after suffering a side strain in Adelaide.

“With Ryan, our number one priority is to ensure he is 100 per cent fit and available for this winter’s Ashes series,” Cricket Australia general manager of team performance Pat Howard said.

“He has had a heavy bowling workload over the past couple of months and actually bowled more balls from November to January this summer than in the corresponding period twelve months earlier.”