Steven Smith will prepare for the opening Ashes Test by leading New South Wales against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield in place of the state's official captain Jack Edwards .

Smith will take charge against England in Perth with Pat Cummins ruled out due to his back injury. He has done the role on six previous occasions since 2021-22 when Cummins took over, winning five of those Test. There is still a good chance he will need to do more than one Test in the series.

He did not captain NSW in the previous round against Queensland, where he scored a century in his first innings since late August, and has not led the state for eight years. It's understood the switch is one Edwards was happy to accommodate for a one-off game. When Edwards was on Australia A duty for the opening round of t

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