A fit-again Pat Cummins could be available to play his first Sheffield Shield match in almost six years next month.
The injury-prone quick was not named as part of NSW's Shield squad to take on Tasmania from Saturday in Wollongong, and will instead play a two-day Sydney Grade match for Penrith over the next two weekends.
However if Cricket Australia medical staff are happy with his conditioning following that match, it's understood he would be available to play in the following Shield game against South Australia at the SCG, beginning March 7.
The one-time Australian Test quick has not featured in NSW's Sheffield Shield season as part of a management plan easing him back into the sport.
He played two Futures League matches for NSW earlier in the summer, before featuring in Australia's one-day international series against New Zealand and Pakistan.
An impressive Big Bash campaign for the Sydney Thunder, where he took seven wickets in six matches, also saw him selected for the recent three-match Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka.
None of the pacemen who played in that series would back up for the Sheffield Shield on Saturday to prevent burn-out, a CA spokesman said.
He played his last domestic first-class match in March 2011, where he bowled 65 overs as a 17-year-old in that season's final against Tasmania, before making his Test debut against South Africa later that year.
But following his sole Test, he suffered serious back injuries and has only played four first-class matches since - two on a 2013 Australia A series and another two as part of the 2015 Ashes tour.
There have been calls for Cummins to re-enter the Test fray, with former Australian captain Allan Border calling for his selection for the current Test series in India.
