Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood to play for NSW in one-day game against Victoria

Test captain Pat Cummins will start his domestic summer with an appearance for NSW in a one-day game against Victoria on Friday – his first match since playing in the Major League T20 competition in the USA in July.

Cummins will be joined at the Junction Oval by fellow Test quick Josh Hazlewood before the duo headline Australia’s bowling attack for an ODI series against Pakistan, which will form key parts of their preparation for the five-Test series against India.

Fellow ODI squad members Glenn Maxwell and Matt Short will play for Victoria after they were rested from the Sheffield Shield clash against NSW this week.

After making just three, and then a second innings duck, in the Shield clash at the MCG, Steve Smith will also line up for NSW in his quest to find some runs before he joins the white-ball squad..

Mitchell Starc will skip the game after a superb return to first-class cricket, sending down 37 overs for match figures of 7-116.

Adam Zampa and Sean Abbott will also not feature, nor will Nathan Lyon, as Tanveer Sangha and Chris Green carry the spin-bowling duties for NSW.

Moises Henriques will captain the side in the absence of new skipper Jack Edwards, who has a hamstring strain.

The lengthy break for Cummins, who hasn’t played an international since the T20 World Cup in June and played six T20s in the US in July, was part of a plan mapped out more than 12 months ago to have him primed for the upcoming workload, headlined by the series against India.

“Everyone that comes back after a break and is a little bit fresher, you never regret it,” Cummins said recently.

“I’ve basically been bowling non-stop since the World Test Championship final, nearly 18 months ago.

“This gives me a good seven or eight weeks completely off bowling so the body can recover, then you start building up again for the summer.

“It means you can hopefully bowl for a little bit longer, maintaining pace is a bit easier, make you less susceptible to injuries.”

Cummins is expected to play all five Tests against India before Australia travels to Sri Lanka in February for another two matches.