States rocked by injury blows to key players
NSW have suffered a blow on the eve of their JLT One-Day Cup campaign with captain Peter Nevill ruled out of the tournament.
Nevill suffered a broken thumb batting in the WACA Ground nets on Monday afternoon.
Top-order batter Kurtis Patterson will skipper the Blues, who play their first game today against Western Australia in Perth.
Sydney Thunder gloveman Jay Lenton has been flown over as cover for Nevill, who is aiming to return in time for the start of the JLT Sheffield Shield.
"It’s obviously very disappointing to break your thumb on the eve of the JLT One-Day Cup," Nevill said.
"But we are confident there is no surgery required, it should heal well, and I am hoping to be back for the start of the Sheffield Shield season.
"I want to be around the group, we have worked very hard to be in a good position at the start of the JLT One-Day Cup.
"I’ll be hanging around in Perth for the first few games to help out in any way I can, and hopefully watch the boys have a successful couple of games here.
"We are very fortunate to have Kurtis Patterson, it will be a seamless transition for him (into a captaincy role).
"Jay kept very well in our internal trial matches a few weeks ago and will come in and do a very good job for the team."
Tasmania have also suffered an injury blow, with star allrounder James Faulkner replaced by former Blues quick Gurinder Sandhu.
Faulkner sustained a calf injury playing for Lancashire Lightning in the semi-final of England’s domestic T20 competition on Saturday in Birmingham.
Tasmania commence their JLT Cup campaign tomorrow against Victoria in Townsville.
South Australia paceman Daniel Worrall will miss the Redbacks' opening matches after experiencing back pain in Perth.
The right-armer will fly back to Adelaide, with allrounder Luke Robins named as Worrall's replacement.
"Daniel’s been experiencing lower back pain which escalated at training this past week, and he will now return to Adelaide for further assessment," said SA high performance general manager Tim Nielsen.
"We are disappointed for Daniel but by returning to Adelaide the medical team can investigate the cause of the injury and the best direction for Daniel’s return to play.
"We now welcome Luke Robins into the squad who is an exciting allrounder and was the leading wicket-taker in the Futures League last season."
NSW Squad: Kurtis Patterson (c), Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Mickey Edwards, Ryan Gibson, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Jay Lenton (wk), Stephen O'Keefe, Daniel Sams, Jason Sangha
Tasmania squad: George Bailey (c), Jackson Bird, Nicholas Buchanan, Jake Doran, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Simon Milenko, Tom Rogers, Clive Rose, Gurinder Sandhu, Jordan Silk, Aaron Summers, Matthew Wade, Beau Webster
South Australia squad: Jake Lehmann (c), Alex Carey, Tom Cooper, Callum Ferguson, Spencer Johnson, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Kane Richardson, Luke Robins, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Adam Zampa
