Bracken may be back against Vics

Chickenpox victim Nathan Bracken could play for New South Wales against Victoria later this week - but at least one of the Blues' ailing batters might miss out.

Paceman Bracken bowled only eight overs in South Australia's second innings of the four day Pura Cup cricket match which ended in Adelaide yesterday.

With fellow quicks Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath on international one day duty, the faltering Blues badly need Bracken on board for the Pura Cup match against the Bushrangers starting in Sydney on Friday.

Bracken, who was diagnosed with chickenpox on day three of the game in Adelaide, should be named in the NSW team on Tuesday, though a shadow player will be put on standby.

"He (Bracken) will be under some scrutiny until probably as late as Thursday night before the game," NSW chairman of selectors John Benaud said.

"At this stage, the suggestion is that he should be fit, that it is a mild dose of chickenpox so we can only wait and see on that."

Bracken's illness was the latest setback for an NSW team which struggled over the last two months after making a strong start to the season.

Benaud said middle order batsman Graeme Rummans and Matthew Phelps were exerting pressure on a misfiring Blues batting line-up that included an out of sorts Michael Slater.

While much had been written about the ex-Test opener's lean trot, Benaud said the discarded international wouldn't be treated differently to any other player.

"Just because he is a former Test player, I don't think that really changes the equation at all - he's just another member of the team who is under pressure," Benaud said.

NSW emerged without a point from its last three Pura Cup games and looked likely to drop to fourth place after the current round.

In the ING Cup one day tournament, early season pacesetter NSW dropped to third after losing three of its last four fixtures.

NSW dropped Darren Lehmann three times during his quick-fire century in Adelaide and Benaud was also concerned about a batting line-up which struggled with the exception of youngster Michael Clarke.

Benaud stressed NSW was still very much in the hunt for finals spots in both formats but acknowledged the Blues needed to improve significantly following its 67 run outright loss in Adelaide.

"We need to lift our game fairly substantially. I think our fielding and batting in the last game it would be fair to say was ordinary," Benaud said.