Cricket Victoria insists a decision to rest Will Pucovski from their Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland is part of a managed and staged return to the sport.
Pucovski made scores of 39 and 0 in his comeback to first-class cricket last week, playing in his first Sheffield Shield match since October 2022.
He was subsequently left out of a 50-over game against Western Australia in Perth, with Victorian officials insisting the opener's focus was solely red-ball cricket.
But the 25-year-old will now miss the next round of the Shield when Victoria face Queensland on Saturday, with Marcus Harris to return from paternity leave in Victoria's side.
In a statement, Cricket Victoria said the decision to leave Pucoski out of the Mackay fixture was part of a "managed approach" to his first-class return.
"We'll continue to support Will Pucovski in his return to first-class cricket. His health remains our priority," head of cricket David Hussey said.
Scott Boland has also been sidelined for the clash in line with Cricket Australia's workload management, with Usman Khawaja to also sit out for Queensland.
All Australian squad members are expected to be subjected to being rested in the lead up to the seven Tests against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand at home and abroad this summer.
Boland will return for the 50-over game against Queensland next Thursday in Mackay.
VICTORIA SQUAD: Peter Handscomb, Will Sutherland, Scott Boland^, Travis Dean*, Sam Elliott^, Sam Harper, Marcus Harris, Campbell Kellaway, Cameron McClure*, Jon Merlo, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Mitch Perry^, Tom Rogers*, Matthew Short.
* - Denotes Shield squad only
^ - Denotes one-day squad only
