No stranger to domestic success, Marcus Stoinis believes talent-stacked Western Australia are primed to end Victoria's Sheffield Shield dominance.
Stoinis has returned to the Warriors and will play in their season opener against Tasmania from Thursday at the WACA.
The Perth native's move to Victoria coincided with a golden period for the Bushrangers, who won the past three Shield titles.
With Australia's leading players available for the first three Shield rounds, allrounder Stoinis will be one of several WA batsmen contending for an Ashes berth along with Shaun Marsh, Mitch Marsh and Hilton Cartwright.
The Warriors also boast proven performers in pacemen Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff and talented up-and-comers in allrounder Ashton Turner and wicketkeeper Cameron Bancroft.
Harnessing that raw talent is the next step for the Warriors. They finished third last season and last claimed Shield honours in 1998-99.
"It's a good chance for a golden era for WA cricket," Stoinis told reporters on Wednesday.
"It's going to be hard for selection but it's also great for the team to have those problems.
"I think we had something special in Victoria. It was never a massive focus to be talking about it too much. It was almost as if we expected to win them.
"There were a few games where we were well and truly out of the chase but that belief that we had was an overriding factor."
The Warriors will face a Tasmanian side featuring returning wicketkeeper Matthew Wade, who faces a huge battle to hold his spot for the Ashes.
Stoinis announced his arrival as a serious short-form talent when he blasted 11 sixes on the way to a brilliant unbeaten 146 to lift Australia to victory over New Zealand in February's one-day series.
Yet to make his Test debut, Stoinis is among half a dozen contenders for Australia's No.6 spot if he can deliver plenty of Shield runs.
But the 28-year-old downplayed his Ashes chances, instead nominating teammate Shaun Marsh as the most likely to get the nod.
"Someone like Shaun, last tour to India he went there and saved a Test match - it doesn't seem that long ago really," Stoinis said.
"To be honest, I think he's probably a better player now than when he's played some of his Test matches in the past. I wouldn't be surprised if he was in the team."
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