Former national captain Mark Taylor fears there will be grave implications for the Test side if the largest state in the country does not pull its weight, amid concerns player development in NSW has stalled.

The Blues’ capitulation for a record low 32 in Hobart, just months after being skittled for 64, has shone the spotlight on the NSW Shield team.

“One might be an aberration, two in a season is a worry,” Taylor said.

The Blues provide six of the Test XI and remain in the box seat to qualify for both the Shield and Marsh Cup finals, although some believe any success achieved off the back of national and senior players will mask deeper issues.

Questions are being raised over the progress of the next tier of players in the Blues’ ranks, though Cricket NSW has warned against harsh judgments in a pandemic-affected season.

The lack of a generational players emerging was reflected in NSW’s representation in the 19-man Australia A squad for games against India last year. The youngest Blue picked was 28-year-old seamer Harry Conway. Weeks after his 34th birthday, Moises Henriques is seen as the most likely Blue to break into the Test side.

Jason Sangha made history in 2017 when, aged 18, he became the second-youngest player to score a first-class century against England, behind the great Sachin Tendulkar. Three seasons later the former Australia under-19s captain is averaging 22 and unable to command a regular place in NSW’s Shield team.

Kurtis Patterson, 27, the last Blue to receive the baggy green, made what shaped as a groundbreaking Test hundred in early 2019, but his last two Shield seasons, admittedly hampered by injury, have yielded one ton from 18 innings and an average of 25.