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More than a dozen Sheffield Shield players have chances of making Test debuts for Australia this summer, adding much-needed intrigue to the ailing State competition.
The selectors need to identify a number six batsman plus two or three quicks to aid veterans Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris over the five Ashes Tests.
Meanwhile, neither David Warner nor Brad Haddin have iron grips on their positions and spinner Nathan Lyon always appears just one bad Test from being hastily dumped again.
As a result, the following players will be well aware that dominant performances in the Shield could see them land Test debuts this summer: Alex Doolan, Nic Maddinson, George Bailey, Adam Voges, Jordan Silk, Aaron Finch, Chris Hartley, Chadd Sayers, Ben Cutting, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Josh Hazlewood, Gurinder Sandhu and Fawad Ahmed.
All of that group, bar Hartley, have either represented Australia A or played in the ODI side this past year.
The selectors view the Australia A tours as a key proving ground for future Test players but have also shown they find credence in performances at ODI level.
Outside of those 13 potential debutants, another 14 players will be pushing for a recall to Test ranks: Usman Khawaja, Matthew Wade, Phil Hughes, Ed Cowan, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Moises Henriques, Andrew McDonald, James Pattinson, Ben Hilfenhaus, John Hastings, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Johnson and Ashton Agar.
Any of those aforementioned 27 players could potentially feature in the Ashes if they light up the Shield. All of them are well and truly on the radar of the selectors.
This fierce competition for Test spots is a boon for the Shield which has suffered from an increasingly low profile and a lessening standard of cricket over the past decade.
Shield players should not need motivation above and beyond the opportunity to represent their State.
But the looming possibility of an Ashes berth may well see those listed players lift a cog, which in turn would improve the level of play across the entire competition.
In the opening round of the Shield starting on October 30, New South Wales battle Tasmania, Victoria face Western Australia, and South Australia face Queensland.
So at the SCG we will likely see Hazlewood and Sandhu charging in for NSW trying to dent the Test aspirations of Tasmanian top order batsmen Doolan, Silk and Cowan.
Not to mention Tasmanian quicks Bird and Hilfenhaus battling NSW stroke-makers Maddinson, Michael Clarke and Steve Smith.
Over the at MCG, Shaun Marsh will be trying to show the selectors he can dominate the spin of Ahmed and the seam of Hastings, while Agar will be hoping to remind them of his talent with the ball by skittling Matthew Wade and Test opener Chris Rogers.
At Adelaide Oval, South Australia swing merchant Sayers will be trying to confound Khawaja and Hartley with his late movement, while Cutting does his best to tear through SA’s batting line-up.
The second and third rounds of the Shield will be even spicier given the return of those international players taking part in the untimely limited overs tour of India.
Although it is doubtful that those fascinating player versus player battles mentioned above will draw many more fans through the gates, it can only be a good thing for Shield cricket.
Shield matches may well receive greater media coverage early in the summer considering the relevance of individual performances to Australia’s Ashes hopes.
The four-day competition has been marginalised by the encroachment of the Big Bash T20 league, which has been wildly successful in attracting crowds.
But hopefully the fight for Ashes spots will benefit the grand old competition and give it some momentum. It certainly needs all the help it can muster.