NSW captain Peter Nevill has revealed the Sheffield Shield runaway leaders are looking at trying to seal a spot in the domestic cricket final before Christmas.

The Blues (31 points) have won their first four games and lead the ladder by almost 14 points going into their clash with last-placed Victoria (7.14) at the MCG starting on Friday.

NSW have never won five matches to start the Shield season.

QUICK SINGLE Unchanged Aussies opt for a fly-in concussion sub

They then play second-placed Queensland (17.38) at the SCG the following week in the final round before the ten-round competition takes a two-month hiatus for the BBL.

"It's a great position to be in at this stage," Nevill said.

Nevill pointed out six wins was normally enough to host a final and five was sometimes enough to make the season decider.

The Blues have lost internationals Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon to the Test squad but Nevill emphasised NSW had some quality replacements.

"We've got some excellent players waiting to come back into the team the likes of Trent Copeland, who was the leading wicket taker in Shield cricket last year, Sean Abbott, who was on international duty recently, Harry Conway took ten wickets in a game against Queensland," Nevill said.

"It's important to have depth in your squad, it creates opportunities for people to throw their hands up when the Australian players won't feature, it's an opportunity to bed down a consistent team."

Blues notch third straight win after Hazlewood's six

Victoria will be boosted by the return of Marcus Harris from Australia A duty and fellow batsmen Will Pucovski and Nic Maddinson, who received medical clearance to return to state cricket after a period of leave to treat mental health and wellbeing.

In other games starting on Friday, Tasmania (13.15 - 4th) host Queensland in Hobart and Western Australia (13.4 - 3rd) are at home to South Australia (7.5 - 5th).

QUICK SINGLE The master and his apprentice a study in cricket obsession

Western Australia have dropped Josh Philippe from their 14-man squad to take on South Australia at the WACA Ground after a lean run of form across formats. The batsman is bound for the Sydney Sixers in the KFC BBL but after a fast start to the 2019-20 domestic summer his output has dropped away.

Jake Carder in line to debut for WA following a strong run of form in the Toyota Futures League, including a double-ton against Tasmania last week, while Joel Paris took 5-44 in the same game and returns to the squad.

South Australia could also hand a debut to 18-year-old allrounder Liam Scott after his strong form in the second XI competition. Scott moved to Adelaide from Sydney for this season and it is set to pay dividends with an elevation to the Shield squad.

The Redbacks will be captained by Alex Carey for the first time in first-class cricket while Adam Zampa also rejoins the state following the T20 internationals.

Marsh leads WA to Marsh Cup title

Queensland towering quick Billy Stanlake returns to the Bulls' Shield squad as they head south to Hobart following their defeat in the Marsh One-Day Cup final this week.

The Bulls will miss Test star Marnus Labuschagne while Australian squad member Michael Neser will remain with the side in Adelaide, but the axing of Usman Khawaja from the national side means the 44-Test veteran will continue to captain his state side.

Tasmania have made four changes to their squad to host Queensland, with Tim Paine and Matthew Wade exiting on national duties while Caleb Jewell and Clive Rose have been dropped. Riley Meredith returns, as does Jordan Silk, who will take over the captaincy in his 50th first-class match match.

The fifth round of the Marsh Sheffield Shield starts Friday, from 10.30am AEDT, with all matches live streamed via cricket.com.au and the CA Live app, including Apple TV.

Victoria: Peter Handscomb (c), Andrew Fekete, Aaron Finch, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Jon Holland, Nic Maddinson, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Matthew Short, Peter Siddle, Will Sutherland, Chris Tremain.

NSW Blues: Peter Nevill (c), Sean Abbott, Nick Bertus, Trent Copeland, Harry Conway, Matthew Gilkes, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques, Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Steve O’Keefe, Daniel Solway.

Tasmania: Jordan Silk (c), George Bailey, Gabe Bell, Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, Jake Doran, Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Lawrence Neil-Smith, Alex Pycroft, Sam Rainbird, Charlie Wakim, Beau Webster, Mac Wright.

Queensland: Usman Khawaja (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cameron Gannon, Sam Heazlett, Charlie Hemphrey, James Peirson (wk), Matthew Renshaw, Billy Stanlake, Mark Steketee, Bryce Street, Mitch Swepson, Jack Wildermuth.

Western Australia: Ashton Turner (c), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jake Carder, Hilton Cartwright, Cameron Green, Liam Guthrie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kelly, Shaun Marsh, David Moody, Joel Paris, D’Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis.

South Australia: Alex Carey (c), Wes Agar, Tom Cooper, Callum Ferguson, Henry Hunt, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Chadd Sayers, Liam Scott, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter, Adam Zampa.