Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood given extended rest post grueling Ashes

After having retained the Urn after a bittersweet Ashes camapign in England, the Aussie international stars are now prepraing to set the domestic tournament ablaze for their respective teams. Skipper Tim Paine, who suffered a broken thumb at the Oval, has been declared fit to take the field for Tasmania against Western Australia in Perth. 

In the meantime, Pat Cummins, who was part of the Kangaroos playing XI in all five matches of the Ashes series, will play his first match in the Marsh Cup against Tasmania on October 23. Josh Hazlewood, who had a busy summer playing four back-to-back Test matches after being recalled into the squad at Lords after being out of the action for six months owing to a back injury, will also take the field with Cummins against Tasmania. 

Nathan Lyon will also miss New South Wales' opening match against Queensland, who will be flaunting Usman Khawaja and Marcus Labuschagne in their strong top-order. But Lyon will be available for the second match, in two weeks' time, against Tasmania at the SCG. 

The players who will be in the limelight are Steve Smith and David Warner. They will be featuring in their first first-class match in Australia since January 2018 and will be eager to get some runs under their belts before the start of the home season. They will be playing with star pacer Mitchell Starc in their team, who played only a single match in the recently concluded Ashes series and will be eager to make an impression. 

Cummins will be missing most of the Shield action as he will be preparing for the upcoming T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan after the Marsh Cup match. In the meantime, Hazlewood, who is nowhere near breaking into the T20 squad, will return to Shield cricket.

The national selectors will be keeping a close look on all these big names as they gear up to the select the squad for their home season opener, against an unpredictable Pakistan side, which will start in Brisbane on November 21.