Western Australia will gain a great boost for their Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria, with speedster Jhye Richardson set to make his first-class cricket return on Monday.
Richardson has battled ongoing injuries since featuring in Australia's Ashes series last summer, the latest of which begin a minor hamstring complaint.
Since retaining the Ashes with Australia, where he suffered shin and hamstring injuries, Richardson hasn't featured in red-ball cricket, having played in List A matches and a recent One-Day clash against New South Wales in the Marsh.
Now primed for a return to the longer format of the game thanks to a Player of the Match performance against NSW, Richardson will take part in his state's clash with Victoria at Junction Oval next week.
"The work that you have to put in to get back from a couple of niggles is always pretty tedious and things don't always go your way so to see the ball swinging as much as it was, was really exciting," Richardson said of his four-wicket performance against NSW, per cricket.com.au.
"It's a good reassurance for me to know that even though it is the first game back I'm in a good place.
"Shield cricket is going to be a good priority (so) having not been picked for the one-day stuff for Australia the focus shifts to getting back to playing Test cricket, which I think is quite reasonable and reachable," Richardson said.
"So that would be the major goal for me this season, to put some performances on the board in Shield cricket and play Test cricket again."
After claiming victory over NSW in their Sheffield Shield opener, Western Australia now eyes the top spot on the table currently held by Queensland after their victory over Tasmania.
WA will face Victoria, who had their only match drawn against South Australia, on Monday as they look to continue their undefeated run.
