New South Wales won the toss and elected to bat on Friday on the opening day of their Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at the WACA ground.

Travis Birt returns for the home side that is without Mitchell Marsh due to international duties.

The Blues boast a strong line up with Shane Watson, Brad Haddin and Usman Khawaja all hoping to impress Australian selectors, while WA’s Shaun Marsh will be aiming to add to his 79 in last week’s Shield match against Queensland.

Western Australia: Marcus North (Capt), Michael Beer, Travis Birt, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Davis, Michael Hogan, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Rimmington, Wesley Robinson, Luke Ronchi, Adam Voges, Jason Behrendorff (12th Man)

New South Wales: Stephen O’Keefe (Capt), Trent Copeland, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Josh Lalor, Ben Rohrer, Steven Smith, Timm Van Der Gugten, Shane Watson, Peter Nevill (12th man)