Star-studded Sheffield Shield round launches final Ashes preparation

In the next five days, Australia's players will enjoy the first huge luxury of hosting a home Ashes series.

Not because of the conditions or the fact record-breaking crowds are expected, but in terms of what the last full week of warm-ups look like.

Every member of Australia's squad, with the exception of Usman Khawaja, will play in Sheffield Shield games at the SCG, WACA and Bellerive Oval this week.

At the same time, England will be playing a three-day intra-squad game at Perth's Lilac Hill, a venue that has never hosted a men's international.

The tourists' preparations were questioned by former England captain Michael Vaughan last week, pointing to the vast difference in conditions to Optus Stadium.

Keen not to light an early fuse, Australia's players have stayed away from questioning England's tactics.

"England can prepare however they want to prepare," Nathan Lyon said this week. "I am not worried about how they're preparing or anything to do with them until the morning of November 21."

England's preparations are nothing new, with a cluttered calendar making meaningful tour games a thing of the past. When Australia went to England in 2023, they played no warm-up games before the Test Championship final but won that and their first two Ashes battles with England.

But there are very obvious advantages to having a longer lead-in for Australia's players, given the timing of the series. England are coming off a white-ball series against New Zealand and their players haven't featured in a red-ball match since early August.

In comparison, Steven Smith has already hit one red-ball century this summer and Marnus Labuschagne two.

Lyon will play his fourth Sheffield Shield game of the season and Scott Boland his third, while Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and back-up quick Sean Abbott join them at the SCG this week when New South Wales host Victoria.

Meanwhile, Travis Head and Alex Carey will feature for South Australia against a Tasmania side including the Jake Weatherald and Beau Webster. In Perth, all eyes will be on how Cameron Green goes on his return to bowling.

"A lot of the skills are transferable between formats," Abbott said on Sunday.  "But Josh Hazelwood has mentioned it a few times - your action gets into a little bit of a different position trying to hit yorkers constantly through white-ball cricket.

"Then when you come back to red-ball cricket, you want to be a little bit up-and-over and get the kiss off the wicket and giving the ball every chance to move.

"You can't really match game intensity as much as we try to in the nets.  It's just something about being out there in the middle and the thick of the contest. So, pretty lucky - home conditions, home summer."

As for Abbott, he is insistent he will be well prepared if his chance comes for a Test debut this summer.

"I feel like I could get the tap on the shoulder," Abbott said. "It felt that way potentially in the West Indies a little bit and games before that. I've not been getting a heap of game time recently, but being around those sort of guys is invaluable, whether you're playing or not."

New South Wales squad Steve Smith (capt), Sean Abbott, Ollie Davies, Jack Edwards, Ryan Hadley, Josh Hazlewood, Sam Konstas, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Josh Philippe, Will Salzmann, Mitchell Starc

Victoria squad Will Sutherland (capt), Scott Boland, Harry Dixon, Sam Elliott, Peter Handscomb, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Blake Macdonald, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Oliver Peake

Tasmania squad Jordan Silk (capt), Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Nikhil Chaudhary, Jake Doran, Kieran Elliott, Brad Hope, Caleb Jewell, Matt Kuhnemann, Aidan O'Connor, Tim Ward, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

South Australia squad Nathan McSweeney (capt), Jordan Buckingham, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Travis Head, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Ben Manenti, Nathan McAndrew, Jason Sangha, Liam Scott, Henry Thornton