St George and Sutherland will begin their 2019-20 NSW Premier Cricket seasons at home on Saturday looking to get their respective campaigns off to a winning start.
Sutherland have named former Australia Test all-rounder Shane Watson in their XI as they host Gordon in a one-day limited-overs clash at Glenn McGrath Oval.
The Sharks scraped into the finals in sixth place last season before an unfortunate wash out ended their campaign at the qualifying final stage.
There will be much less attention on Sutherland than at the start of last season when former Australia captain Steve Smith played his first competitive cricket since his ban for his role in the ball tampering scandal in South Africa last March.
But the Sharks retain plenty of firepower, with Watson expected to do the damage with the bat at Caringbah.
Star young leg spinner Daniel Fallins has also been named for Sutherland alongside another NSW representative in Ben Dwarshuis. Sutherland's top wicket taker Tom Pinson (35) and leading run scorer captain Chris Williams (814) also return for the Sharks.
Meanwhile, St George will hand a debut to spinner Joseph Graham when they host Manly-Warringah at Hurstville Oval.
Graham will come up against his former club in the opening round, becoming Saints first grade player No.450.
St George will be without representative stars Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques and Kurtis Patterson who are unavailable due to NSW commitments. But experienced fast bowler Trent Copeland will play alongside outstanding young all-rounder Nick Stapleton who will captain the side.
Stapleton enjoyed an incredible 2018-19 campaign, scoring the sixth most runs in the competition for the season with 771 at an average of 64.25 including three centuries. He also took 15 wickets as he captained Saints to a seventh-placed finish.
Saints' top wicket taker Tom Ortiz, who finished with 31 scalps last season, also returns.
Play in both matches starts at 9.30am.
