The NSW Blues will regain left-arm quick Doug Bollinger to face Western Australia in the Weet-Bix Sheffield Shield match starting Friday at the WACA Ground.
Bollinger was named 12th man for Australia in the first Test against the West Indies at the Gabba and has been released to join Stuart Clark in the NSW team that is out for revenge on the Warriors for a hammering in Wednesday's Ford Ranger Cup game.
Clark and Bollinger were doing battle for the fourth seamer position in the Test team, but now Clark will captain his first Sheffield Shield match and is delighted to have Bollinger join him as the Blues try to get a result for the first time this season after draws with WA and Tasmania.
He is confident of a much better all-round performance than the team put in for the one-day clash on Wednesday.
"He's one of the four Test quicks at the moment, so to have him back in our team bowling fast on a wicket that could be conducive to fast bowling is great. I'd take Doug any day of the week," Clark said.
"I've been coming here for 10 years now and New South Wales cricket has progressively got better at handling it. Unfortunately, we nicked a few this time and played at some we shouldn’t have, but we've all played enough here and guys have been here on numerous occasions to know what to do to be successful."
The Blues' attack won't be at full strength, though, with Burt Cockley forced from the field on Wednesday after bowling just four overs with a back injury. He's already back in Sydney, but coach Matthew Mott is hopeful Ben Rohrer will be fit to play and that his talented batting line-up will step up.
Phillip Hughes, David Warner and Phil Jaques all got out in disappointing fashion on a WACA pitch with some bounce on Wednesday, and with none of them having a century so far this season this Shield game would be the perfect time to change that.
"We'll have to wait on the fitness of Rohrer and for that we've kept (Dominic) Thornely back on standby. It's pretty much the same side (that played in the Ford Ranger Cup) and they are the best players available for us at the moment," Mott said.
"We think we've got a good range in the side, we have Steven Smith as our spinner and he's bowling well, and then we have all the quicks there who are ready to go. I'm sure they will be fired up to attune for this loss which has hurt us a lot."
"The team meeting for games at the WACA is always dominated by giving yourself that extra time to get in and when you do it's a beautiful place to bat even when the wicket is seaming a bit. You get value for your shots and we just need to keep our composure to get in at first and then cash in later in the day."
The Warriors found confidence with Wednesday's thumping win after a disappointing week in Melbourne losing the Shield match after claiming first innings points.
That forced coach Tom Moody to turn up the heat on his players and challenge them to put in match-winning innings'. Shaun Marsh was one player he singled out and he responded with 116, but it was his 18-year-old brother Mitch who stole the show with 60 off 29 balls.
He is now hopeful of making his four-day debut as he has been included in the Warriors' 13-man squad.
"It would be awesome to play on Friday and that's been my goal ever since I have been in the squad," Mitch Marsh said.
"If I'm lucky enough to get the nod then hopefully I can do well and we can do well as team."
The Warriors have injury concerns of their own, though, with Ashley Noffke unlikely to recover from an injury to his ankle ligaments and Brett Dorey fighting to overcome a sore Achilles.
Squads:
Western Australia - Adam Voges (captain), Wes Robinson, Luke Towers, Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh, Theo Doropoulos, Luke Ronchi, Ashley Noffke, Steve Magoffin, Brett Dorey, Josh Mangan, Brad Knowles, Michael Hogan.
New South Wales - Stuart Clark (captain), David Warner, Phillip Hughes, Phil Jaques, Ben Rohrer, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, Daniel Smith, Moises Henriques, Grant Lambert, Stuart Clark, Josh Hazlewood, Doug Bollinger.