MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 22: Adam Zampa of Australia warms up during a training session ahead of the ODI & T20 tour of Pakistan at Junction Oval on March 22, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Australian spin bowler Adam Zampa will make his return to the Sheffield Shield for the New South Wales Blues on Thursday.
Zampa was confirmed as part of a 13-man squad for the game, with the Blues set to take on the Victorian side at the Junction Oval in St Kilda from December 1.
The spin bowler, who is a permanent fixture of Australia's limited overs teams, last played in the first class competition for the South Australian Redbacks during 2019.
He has since been too busy with white ball cricket to take part in the Shield.
A former Blue before moving to South Australia, Zampa made his first class debut in 2012, but has struggled across his 38 first-class fixtures, taking 105 wickets at 48.26.
Despite that, he recently suggested he is a far more mature player now and will be better equipped to handle the rigours of first-class cricket, with reports also suggesting he could be a smokey to join the Australian team when they tour India for a four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in February and March next year.
“It's rare that Adam is available for Sheffield Shield, given his taxing white ball schedule but he has this week free and has always maintained his desire to play red-ball cricket,” Cricket NSW head of elite male cricket Michael Klinger said in a statement.
“For us to be able to bring in a player of his calibre and experience is a welcome one. Toby Gray is unlucky to miss out after a strong debut last week but he is a young guy who will look to get more chances as his career develops."
Joining Zampa in returning to the New South Wales squad for the game is Sean Abbott, with Trent Copeland and Toby Gray, who debuted on the back of excellent form at premier cricket level, missing out.
Chris Green is also retained after an exceptional debut, although the Blues find themselves without a win heading into the mid-season break for the Big Bash League and at the bottom of the table.
The match against Victoria, who are also well behind competition leaders Western Australia, kicks off at 10:30am on Thursday.
Sean Abbott, Mickey Edwards, Matthew Gilkes, Chris Green, Liam Hatcher, Moises Henriques, Baxter Holt, Daniel Hughes, Hayden Kerr, Kurtis Patterson (c), Jason Sangha (vc), Chris Tremain, Adam Zampa