NSW will start the new cricket season slightly down on strike power with skipper Steve Waugh and pacemen Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken all missing from the Blues' season-opening ING Cup clash with Victoria at Bankstown Oval on Sunday.

Waugh (calf), Lee (rib) and Bracken (shoulder) could all also miss the defending champion's second ING Cup fixture against Tasmania the following Sunday, but coach Steve Rixon stressed the players would not be rushed back.

He said their unavailability opened up opportunities for several young players.

"We're not going to rush any of them back. It's not imperative they come back," Rixon said.

"With Steve Waugh out, it gives Michael Clarke opportunities to bat with the bigger boys and with Brett Lee out it gives Don Nash a chance."

All-rounder Shane Lee is expected to lead the side with Waugh still recuperating from a torn calf he suffered on the Ashes tour.

Lee, who tore a muscle attached to his ribcage during the fifth Ashes Test, underwent further treatment today, with team physiotherapist Pat Farhart estimating the paceman was two weeks away from returning to action.

"It just needs rest and I've had six weeks off," Lee said.

Also expected to come back in the fortnight was one-day international player Bracken, who recently resumed bowling in the nets after recovering from a rotator cuff injury which required surgery.

"He did it in a one-dayer on the Ashes tour," Farhart said.

"Nathan has been bowling for about two weeks now, slowly increasing his duration and intensity."

Even without those three internationals, NSW will field a star-studded side to be announced tomorrow at its season launch.

Australian spearhead Glenn McGrath will lead a pace attack which will probably also include Nash and Stuart Clark plus one or two seam-bowling all-rounders in Shawn Bradstreet and Scott Thompson.

Leggie Stuart MacGill, who equalled the competition single season wicket-taking record last summer, will lead the spin department with Michael Bevan and Mark Higgs also capable of contributing overs.

The Blues will field a powerful fast-scoring batting lineup even in Waugh's absence, with international stalwarts Bevan, Michael Slater, Mark Waugh and Shane Lee supplemented by young dashers Higgs and Brad Haddin.

© 2001 AAP