Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will play Sheffield Shield game and miss Australia’s opening ODI against Pakistan

A full round of Sheffield Shield will finish on the same day Australia plays an ODI against Pakistan and one key member of the national team has made a curious choice.

Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will miss Australia’s opening one-day game against Pakistan after being picked to play his first red-ball match since the New Zealand series in March in a one-off Sheffield Shield appearance for NSW against Queensland starting on Friday.

Hazlewood, who is part of Australia’s 14-player ODI squad for the three-match series that begins next Monday at the MCG, takes the place of Mitch Starc, who took seven wickets at the MCG against Victoria but will now turn his attention to national duties.

Hazlewood had to withdraw from what was supposed to be the start of his domestic summer when he woke up sick on the morning of a one-day game between NSW and Victoria.

Sean Abbott, who also played in the Shield match at the MCG, will join Starc in the Australian camp, with the duo likely to form the frontline Australian bowling attack for the opening match, along with ODI captain Pat Cummins.

Aussie quick Josh Hazlewood will play for NSW against Queensland. Picture: Tom Parrish

The collision of domestic and international matches, with several state players involved in the Australia A game against India A, which started in Mackay on Thursday, and others required for ODI duties, have forced states to turn to depth players for the round of Shield matches that begins on Friday.

Test spinner Nathan Lyon, who has played the opening two Shield games for NSW, will get a rest, but Test keeper Alex Carey will captain South Australia against Victoria.

Hazlewood flagged his intention to try to get in roughly 30 overs of red-ball bowling to help prepare for the five-match Test series against India.

Starc bowled 37, which Hazlewood said was “a bit too much”, in his Shield outing.

“I think anything around 30 (overs) is a really good workout … tick all those boxes with the back-to-back bowling and just get those miles in the legs and get ready for Test cricket,” he said.

The collision of games will also impact young gun Cooper Connolly, who is playing in the opening game for Australia A but will miss the second clash when he joins the Australian T20 squad, also playing Pakistan.

Originally published as Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood will play Sheffield Shield game and miss Australia’s opening ODI against Pakistan