Western Australia captain Marcus North won the toss and opted to bat first in the Sheffield Shield match against NSW at the SCG.

The Warriors left out Brad Knowles and Michael Hogan while Dominic Thornely is 12th man for the Blues who are making a late start to the Shield season after contesting and winning the Champions League Twenty20 title in India.

Hot and sunny conditions are expected on a pitch that has a light covering of grass and is tipped to favour high scoring in the four-day game.

A major talking point of the match will be the form of Test hopefuls Phil Hughes and Phil Jaques, who are likely to open the batting for the Blues in their first innings.

NSW: Simon Katich (capt), Phil Hughes, Phil Jaques, Ben Rohrer, Brad Haddin, Steven Smith, Beau Casson, Usman Khawaja, Stuart Clark, Burt Cockley, Mitchell Starc, Dominic Thornely (12th man).

Western Australia: Marcus North (capt), Luke Towers, Wes Robinson, Marcus Stoinis, David Bandy, Theo Doropoulos, Luke Ronchi, Ashley Noffke, Josh Mangan, Steve Magoffin, Brett Dorey, Brad Knowles (12th man).