A broken finger will see a heartbroken Matthew Gilkes miss NSW's clash against South Australia at North Dalton Park this week.
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Gilkes was named in the Blues 12-man squad to take on the SACAS from Monday to Friday, November 4, but had to pull out after breaking his finger at training on Saturday.
A NSW spokesman confirmed Gilkes would miss the match. NSW had not publicly named his replacement player at time of print.
Before breaking his finger, Ulladulla-born Gilkes told the Mercury how much he was looking forward to the Marsh Sheffield Shield clash at North Dalton Park.
"It is not quite home for me but in some way Wollongong and the South Coast area still feels like a bit of a home for me. It will definitely be nice to get back there and play," he said.
"Hopefully we can get a few people down there.
"I think my parents will come down to have a watch so it will be really nice to have them there."
Gilkes added NSW's batsmen were also looking to be more relentless and ruthless against South Australia.
He said doing that would be the key to helping the Blues get off the bottom of the Marsh Sheffield Shield ladder.
NSW have only two points heading into their round three stoush with the SACAS, after a draw with Western Australia earlier this month and a loss to Queensland last week.
Gilkes, coming off scoring his second double century for NSW Premier Cricket outfit UNSW, said the Blues had identified a number of areas they needed to work on to get back to winning ways sooner rather than later.
"We haven't started as we would have liked. The boys have been working really hard over the past week and we know the things we need to work on so we are hoping to bounce back in this game down in Wollongong against the SACAS and hopefully get a win on the board," the 23-year-old said.
"We have spoken about going out there and being a bit more relentless and ruthless with our batting and trying to bat for longer periods.
"We've kind of had a lot of people get in and get to 20 and 30 and then get out, which isn't really good enough.
"We've spoken about guys out there scoring hundreds.
"A massive focus point for us is when you do get yourself in and get to 20 and 30, just to nail down and don't switch off and try and bat for long periods and get a big score."
We've kind of had a lot of people get in and get to 20 and 30 and then get out, which isn't really good enough. We've spoken about guys out there scoring hundreds
- Matthew Gilkes
Gilkes has been in fine form with the bat this season.
The talented left-hand batsmen's unbeaten 201 against Eastern Suburbs came just days after he posted scores of 72 and 48 against a powerful Queensland Sheffield Shield bowling attack.
"I've started quite well this season. I've got some runs in pre-season games and second XI and done alright in grade cricket as well so I'm quite happy with how I'm batting at the moment," he said.
"I'm hoping to stay consistent throughout the year and keep trying to put my foot forward to win games for the team.
"It's been nice to spend a bit of time out in the middle, I think that is the key to having confidence, just spending time in the middle."
Gilkes' NSW team-mate Blake Nikitaras is also looking forward to the North Dalton Park fixture.
The former Oak Flats junior played a lot of cricket at the Fairy Meadow ground early on in his career.
So did fellow former Oak Flats junior Nathan McAndrew, who will line-up for South Australia.
NSW pair Daniel Hughes and Sean Abbott head into the game closing in on significant milestones.
Hughes (3833 runs) needs another 167 runs to bring up 4000 Sheffield Shield runs.
All-rounder Abbott needs to score just another 47 runs to bring up 2000 Sheffield Shield runs.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
