Domestic start dates remain up in the air for prospective Ashes players from Victoria and New South Wales, as the four remaining state teams prepare to start their campaigns over the next fortnight.
Both squads are trapped in their home states as a mooted bubble in the Northern Territory to play out first class fixtures fell through.
South Australia will host Western Australia in the opening match of the Marsh Cup next Wednesday, before the sides face off in a Sheffield Shield contest starting two days’ later.
In Queensland, the Bulls will play Tasmania in a Shield game from Tuesday September 28 at Ian Healy Oval, before a 50-over match at the same venue on October 3.
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Two potential fixtures between New South Wales and Victoria have already fallen through due to complications that have arisen because of the lockdowns that continue in both states.
Victorian batting prodigy Will Pucovski, who is returning from a shoulder injury, is one of the players most in need of serious cricket before the Ashes.
The young gun opener made 62 and 10 in his only Test appearance so far, against India at the SCG earlier this year, before picking up that knock diving for a ball in the field.
“The conversation with George Bailey was a lot around them being comfortable with what they know of the players; they have been around for a bit,” Victorian coach Chris Rogers told News Corp yesterday.
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“There’s going to be enough chances for them to show they are in good form and ready to go. Clearly it would be nice for them to have more games, but what do you do? From our point of view, there’s quite a bit of hunger to make every opportunity count.”
Aside from Pucovski, other players who will either definitely or potentially be in the frame for Ashes selection include NSW’s Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitch Starc, Steve Smith, Nathan Lyon, Moises Henriques, Kurtis Patterson, Sean Abbott, and David Warner, as well as Victoria’s James Pattinson, Glenn Maxwell, Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris.