Best of the 2018-19 Sheffield Shield season

What are the basics?

First contested in 1892-93, the Sheffield Shield is Australia's first-class competition that is a key platform for players to push their case for Test selection. As per normal, the 2019-20 season will see each of the six state teams play the other twice – home and away – before the top two teams at the end of the round robin play off in a winner-takes-all final.

When does it start?

Thursday! Round One starts on October 10 with matches in Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth to start the season. Click here to view the full fixture.

Clinical Victoria prove too strong for NSW

How can I watch?

All matches from the 2019-20 season can be live streamed for free right here on cricket.com.au, the CA Live app as well as Apple TV.

What about live scores & highlights?

You're in the right place! Cricket.com.au and the CA Live app will have live scores for every game of the Marsh Sheffield Shield as well as exclusive highlights, reports and interviews throughout the competition.

Are the big guns playing?

Yep! One of the most exciting part of this season's competition is there are FOUR full rounds before the start of the Test summer, meaning Australia's Ashes heroes and other Test hopefuls will be aiming for strong performances at state level.

Thirteen of Australia's 17-man Ashes squad will play the opening round – Ashes heroes Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon have been rested while Peter Siddle is still nursing a hip injury – with the returns to the NSW side of Steve Smith and David Warner headlining the inclusions this week.

QUICK SINGLE Refreshed Smith ready to resume run-scoring

There's plenty of star power outside those Ashes players as well; white-ball stars like Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis will also be in action for the respective states, as will young guns like Will Pucovski, Jhye Richardson and Alex Carey.

Overall, 29 players with Test experience will play in the opening round as well another 12 who have played limited overs cricket for Australia.

QUICK SINGLE Recalled Stanlake first eyes red-ball boost

What are they playing for?

Apart from state pride and the chance to lift one of the oldest trophies in world spot, there are a multitude of Test spots up for grabs in the opening four rounds.

National selector Trevor Hohns said this week there are "two or three" batting positions wide open for the first Test of the summer, against Pakistan in late November, and the race for those spots is where most of the attention will be.

Ashes heroes Smith and Marnus Labuschagne appear certain to face Pakistan, while Matthew Wade will also be difficult to overlook after he posted two centuries in England.

But that's where it gets interesting; Warner's horror Ashes campaign means he will be desperate to find top form to secure his spot, with the likes of Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja eyeing off an opening spot.

Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh lead the race for a spot in the middle order, while the likes of Pucovski, Peter Handscomb and even Carey could force their way into the conversation with a strong start to the season.

It's a case of who will Australia leave out on a bowling front; Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson, Michael Neser and even the returning Richardson will all be keen for a strong opening to the season to force their way into the Test side, which is almost certain to feature Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon.

Squads

NSW v Queensland

at the Gabba, October 10-13, 11.00am AEDT (10am local)

NSW: Peter Nevill (c), Sean Abbott, Nick Bertus, Harry Conway, Trent Copeland, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.

Queensland: Usman Khawaja (c), Joe Burns, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Charlie Hemphrey, Marnus Labuschagne, Michael Neser, James Peirson, Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mark Steketee, Mitch Swepson.

Victoria v South Australia

at Junction Oval, Oct 10-13, 10.30am AEDT

Victoria: Peter Handscomb (c), Scott Boland, Aaron Finch, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Jon Holland, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Matthew Short, Chris Tremain.

South Australia: Travis Head (c), Wes Agar, Tom Andrews, Alex Carey, Tom Cooper, Henry Hunt, Jake Lehmann, Kane Richardson, Luke Robins, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter, Adam Zampa.

Western Australia v Tasmania

at the WACA, Oct 10-13, 1.30pm AEDT (10.30am local)

Western Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Shaun Marsh, Joel Paris, Josh Philippe, Jhye Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Sam Whiteman.

Tasmania: Matthew Wade (Captain), George Bailey, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Tim Paine, Alex Pyecroft, Sam Rainbird, Jordan Silk