Mitchell Starc, Steve O'Keefe return to Sheffield Shield duties after Pakistan Test series Spin debutant Steve O'Keefe believes Australia's Cricketers can do better in Asian conditions and understands why he was dropped for the second Test. Mitchell Starc was playing Test cricket in Abu Dhabi less than a week ago. FOUR days ago, Mitchell Starc was playing Test cricket in Abu Dhabi. Now, he's preparing to play for New South Wales" day-night Sheffield Shield clash against South Australia on Saturday, alongside fellow UAE tourist Stephen O'Keefe The pair has been named in the Blues" 12-man squad for the game against the Redbacks, replacing spinner Patrick Jackson and paceman Josh Hazlewood, who is linking up with Australia's one-day squad. Australian bowler Mitchell Starc had a tough time in the recent Test against Pakistan. Starc and O'Keefe both played one Test each in the recent series against Pakistan, with both struggling for impact against the in-form Pakistani batsmen. Paceman Starc took two wickets in his match, while left-arm orthodox spinner O'Keefe picked up four scalps on his Test debut. Despite constant injury concerns surrounding Australia's "next generation" of pacemen that includes Starc, along with the likes of James Pattinson and Patrick Cummins, CA had no issue making the 24-year-old available for state duty so soon after playing in gruelling conditions in the Middle East. Starc will be keen to get as much red-ball - or in this case, pink-ball - cricket under his belt before the squad for the first Test against India is selected. Stephen O'Keefe (C) had limited success on his Test debut in Dubai. Barring injury to Nathan Lyon, O'Keefe is virtually no chance of being selected for that series but still harbours hopes of being chosen for future overseas Test tours despite his struggles against Pakistan. "Some of the things you can learn at home doesn't necessarily translate to the way they perform over there," O'Keefe told Fairfax Media. You can't really kick the dirt with that. You've got to adapt to those conditions. Unfortunately we did it too slowly I think and if I had that time again there would probably be a few things that I'd change. NSW squad: Peter Nevill (c), Ryan Carters, Harry Conway, Scott Henry, Josh Lalor, Nick Larkin, Stephen O'Keefe, Kurtis Patterson, Ben Rohrer, Gurinder Sandhu, Will Somerville, Mitchell Starc. Originally published as Starc, O'Keefe straight back to Shield