Blues' young batting guns primed for run with Bulls

Domestic powerhouse New South Wales has seldom enjoyed the 'youthful underdogs' tag but when it comes to the respective batting line-ups of this week's Marsh Sheffield Shield finalists, it might well be warranted.

Queensland will go into Thursday's five-day decider boasting a formidable top five of which all but one (opener Bryce Street) has played at least 11 Tests, with the world's third-ranked Test batter, Marnus Labuschagne, leading the way.

The Blues of course have a world-class bowling contingent to throw at their hosts, featuring Test trio Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc.

But with David Warner, Steve Smith and Moises Henriques all heading to the Indian Premier League earlier this month, their batting group is decidedly less experienced.

If NSW captain Peter Nevill is absent due to the birth of his second child, the visitors' top seven is likely to have a majority of players aged 21 or under.

Jason Sangha (21), Jack Edwards (20), Matthew Gilkes (21) and wicketkeeper Baxter Holt (the 21-year-old on standby for Nevill) could all be entrusted to negotiate the likes of Mitchell Swepson and Michael Neser on an Allan Border Field pitch prepared for an unprecedented mid-April final.

Twenty-year-old Lachie Hearne, who made a half-century on debut against Queensland in Wollongong last week, is also in the Blues' extended 15-man squad though he appears likely to make way for returning allrounder Sean Abbott.

Gilkes and Edwards were brought in for their first games this season after the Blues' calamitous defeat to Tasmania last month when they were bowled out for just 32, with Daniel Solway and Nick Larkin making way.

But NSW selection chief and talent manager David Freedman stressed the young batters have been chosen on merit rather than potential.

"It is very exciting," Freedman told cricket.com.au. "All the young players warrant selection – we're a performance-based environment, whether you're 19 or whether you're 35, performance equals rewards.

"When we made a couple of changes to our batting line-up before Wollongong (to play Queensland, after the Tasmania defeat), it just so happened that young guys were the ones playing well and they were the next best players.

"It wasn't a conscious decision to get a couple of young guys in, they were just our next best players and we felt like we needed a change or two.

"Pleasingly they did nicely in Wollongong. If you look at our batting line-up now, hopefully that provides a nucleus for the years to come."

The performances of those batting prospects this month suggests they are well-equipped for the clash with the top-placed Bulls.

In NSW's final regular-season match against Queensland, Sangha struck his first hundred in two-and-a-half years, Gilkes scored a pair of half-centuries in his first Shield game opening the batting while Hearne and Holt put on 109 in a crucial fifth-wicket first-innings stand.

Then on Sunday in the Marsh One-Day Cup final, Edwards was the player of the match for his decisive 108 against Western Australia.

Sangha and Edwards both played in the Blues' 2018-19 Shield final defeat to Victoria at the Junction Oval as teenagers but have since played just four and three first-class games respectively.

Freedman believes they are now better players than they were two summers ago.

"Jason and Jack had the full season in the team a couple of years back when they were only 19 and they got an extended run when the team was going well," he explained.

"They've both gone away and come back far better players than when they played last time.

"Even though they're very highly regarded, they're still very young. We want them to be long-term NSW players and future Australian players.

"I don't think they had expectations that they should be playing more – they just went away and got better. They understood they needed to improve to give themselves the best chance of getting picked."

2021 Marsh Sheffield Shield final

Queensland v NSW Blues at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, April 15-19. Play begins each morning at 9.30am AEST

Queensland squad: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, Joe Burns, Brendan Doggett, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, Jimmy Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Bryce Street, Mitchell Swepson, Jack Wildermuth

NSW squad: Sean Abbott, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Jack Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Josh Hazlewood, Lachlan Hearne, Baxter Holt, Daniel Hughes, Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Jason Sangha, Tanveer Sangha, Mitchell Starc

The 2021 Marsh Sheffield Shield Final will be broadcast LIVE in Australia on Fox Cricket & Kayo Sports. ABC Grandstand's live radio coverage will also be available on cricket.com.au & the CA Live app