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NSW's Sheffield Shield side had to scramble to Adelaide on Thursday after three new cases of COVID-19 were detected in Sydney the day before.

Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Sean Abbott are among the NSW stars who will arrive in Adelaide on Thursday to prepare for the start of the Sheffield Shield season.

Starc, Lyon and Abbott completed their two-week COVID-19 quarantine after arriving home from Australia's T20 and ODI tour of England.

The Blues had originally planned to fly to the Adelaide Hub on October 18, given their first Shield fixture against Victoria doesn't start until October 22.

But after three new coronavirus cases were confirmed in Sydney on Wednesday, the defending champions scrambled a flight for Thursday to ensure they could make it out of NSW while the border was still open with South Australia.

The 17-man squad is stacked with international experience and will be captained by wicketkeeper Peter Nevill.

Paceman Chris Tremain returns to the Blues' Shield squad after six seasons with Victoria. Leg spinning 18-year-old Tanveer Sangha is the squad's only uncapped Blue.

Blues head coach Phil Jaques has been impressed by the dedication of his squad to improve on last season's title-winning campaign.

"At times when you win a Shield there can be a little bit of complacency within the camp," Jaques said.

"I've seen it in teams I've played in. But I certainly haven't seen it at all through this whole off-season.

"There continues to be a real hunger to keep improving and take our cricket to the next level.

NSW squad: Peter Nevill (capt), Daniel Hughes, Nick Larkin, Kurtis Patterson, Moises Henriques, Daniel Solway, Jason Sangha, Matthew Gilkes, Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain, Nathan Lyon, Liam Hatcher, Harry Conway, Jack Edwards, Tanveer Sangha.