Victoria to name at least three debutants for its One Day Cup opener against Queensland

Victoria will unleash “Nathan Bracken model” seamer Harry Hoekstra to spearhead its youthful side for this weekend’s One Day Cup opener.

A combination of national duties and injuries will leave the Vics will just one player older than 28 against Queensland at Allan Border Field on Saturday.

Hoekstra, 21, from Casey South Melbourne, joined the Victorian contract list at the end of last summer and has impressed throughout the pre-season.

Victorian coach Chris Rogers sees a bright future for the skilful left-armer.

“I think Rob Cassell, our bowling coach, likened him to a Nathan Bracken model,” Rogers said.

“A tall left-armer, not express but accurate, skilful, swings the ball – and the other thing that’s really stood out about him is his game awareness.

“He won a game for the Victorian team in the Darwin T20s with the bat, but if you listen to him, the way he speaks, he’s got a really good understanding of the game.”

Liam Blackford , another southpaw poised to make his debut, has been on Victoria’s books for several years but was sidelined by an unusual injury.

After noticing his entire arm had turned purple, Blackford was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in 2023.

The operation left him with a gnarly lightning rod-shaped scar on his shoulder and out of the nets for an entire summer.

“I think he played four years of under-19s state cricket … in some respects he’s been a bit of a first-round draft pick equivalent,” Rogers said of Blackford.

“He had a year where there were complications with his shoulder which put him out for the whole season and set him back as well.

“It took him a little bit of time to recover, but at the back end of last year, he started to get a lot of consistency with his run scoring.

“We really like the way he sets up and know he’s got a lot of skill as well. He’s going to keep in these first two games, but his batting is a real strength.”