Steve Smith tries to top off week with win

What a week it has been for 20-year-old NSW leg-spinner Steve Smith - and the best could be yet to come.

He was playing for the Blues at the Gabba on Monday, finishing the Sheffield Shield match on the losing side after scoring a century but going wicket-less.

The next day, watching a movie at home, he was told by Cricket Australia to get on a plane to Perth, on standby for injured spinner Nathan Hauritz.

With Hauritz passed fit on Wednesday to play in the third Test against West Indies, Smith headed home again and admitted to feeling just a little tired when he turned up for training at the Newcastle No.1 Sports Ground on Thursday afternoon.

Probably the highlight of his week so far has been meeting his hero Ricky Ponting, but a bag of wickets in a win against Shield leaders and defending champions Victoria would top things off nicely.

"It has been an interesting week. It was a bit of a shock two days ago to get called up to the Australian side," Smith told reporters on Thursday.

"It was good to get over there (to Perth) and meet all the guys and just get a feel for what it's like to be around that sort of crowd.

"I saw one session of cricket so that was good.

"It has been a pretty long couple of days, plane there and plane back.

"I'm a little bit tired but I'll get through today's session and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."

Smith, who has a modest first-class bowling average of 75.18 in nine matches, isn't fussed about any increased pressure he now faces to prove to the cricketing public why he's the nation's spinner-in-waiting.

"I'd just like to not think about it, go out there and play good cricket for NSW and put some consistent performances on the board," he said, adding he felt the Newcastle pitch "should turn a little bit".

Smith said the Blues, led by 22-year-old Moises Henriques, had a young side with a blend of experience.

"The two Phils (Hughes and Jaques) opening the batting have played Test cricket and done well at that level," he said.

"The young quicks (teenagers Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc) are doing well. It's about taking early wickets and putting pressure on the Victorian batsmen."

For Victoria, the clash with the fifth-placed Blues is the start of a new era for Cameron White's Bushrangers, following the first-class retirement of state record-holder and master batsman Brad Hodge.

Hodge had announced the Newcastle game would be his final first-class match, but the 34-year-old has been ruled out with a knee injury.

"I think collectively, the whole top six or seven batting group needs to share some of the load that Hodgey has taken over the 17 years he has been playing first-class cricket," White told AAP.

"It's a big job for all of us, big shoes to fill."

Teams

NSW (from): Moises Henriques (capt), Aaron Bird, Phillip Hughes, Josh Hazlewood, Phil Jaques, Usman Khawaja, Grant Lambert, Stephen O'Keefe, Ben Rohrer, Mitchell Starc, Daniel Smith, Steven Smith, David Warner.

Victoria: Cameron White (capt), Steven Gilmour, John Hastings, Jon Holland, David Hussey, Nick Jewell, Lloyd Mash, Andrew McDonald, Bryce McGain, Chris Rogers, Will Sheridan, Matthew Wade (12th man to be named).