Tassie banking on polished Jewell to fill gaps

A Tasmania side shorn of four of its key players for the resumption of the Marsh Sheffield Shield are hopeful a hidden gem in the state's club cricket ranks will shine.

Tasmania pair Caleb Jewell and Mac Wright will play their first Shield matches in some 15 months after being drafted in to face Queensland in Hobart from tomorrow, replacing Matthew Wade and Ben McDermott, who are on national duty with Australia's T20 squad.

Paceman Riley Meredith is also in New Zealand with the national team, while veteran seamer Peter Siddle has been ruled out with a thumb injury picked up in the KFC BBL.

On the plus side, Australia Test captain Tim Paine returns to lead Tasmania.

Tigers coach Jeff Vaughan is confident that Jewell, in particular, will make the most of his call-up after dominating Premier Cricket with 781 runs at 52.07 in 16 matches for North Hobart.

"They've been selected on the back of wonderful performances at Premier and second XI cricket over the last 3-4 months but also the last 12 months as well," Vaughan told reporters today.

"Jewell has five hundreds this season already, two of them in white-ball grand finals.

"He's in pretty irresistible form.

"One thing that will give him real confidence is an excellent one-day hundred he made here last year.

"He knows deep down that he can play at this level.

"It will be great for him to go out and continue his rich vein of form but most importantly to bat the way he has been over the last three or four months and that will give him the best opportunity for success."

With Jackson Bird to lead the pace attack along with Nathan Ellis, Tasmania are yet to decide if they'll use one or both of Gabe Bell and Alex Pyecroft in the final XI, with off-spinner Jarrod 'Froggy' Freeman also vying for a spot.

"We had up to a dozen players still training with the Tigers programme throughout the Big Bash period, almost doing a mini pre-season and making sure they were right to go. We've had a great little break with our bowlers we'll be rolling out in this Shield game," Vaughan said.

"Having Paine here as our captain is obviously great leadership, and Jackson Bird leader of our bowling group, so we've still got lots of experienced players as well.

"We're pretty lucky to have the Test captain playing with us. He's also a very passionate Tasmanian and cricketer. A wonderful tactician, excellent leader and we're excited to have him in our group."

Tasmania squad: Tim Paine (c), Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Jake Doran, Nathan Ellis, Jarrod Freeman, Caleb Jewell, Alex Pyecroft, Jordan Silk, Charlie Wakim, Beau Webster, Mac Wright