Abbott suffered a minor hamstring strain in a Sheffield Shield match at home to Victoria earlier this season, the same game in which Josh Hazlewood went off with a similar concern before being ruled out of the entire Ashes series.
The timing of the injury "was really poor" in the words of Abbott himself, who was in the extended Australia squad for the first Ashes Test in Perth before being withdrawn alongside Hazlewood.
The subsequent injury to Pat Cummins would have left the 32-year-old Abbott in a strong position to make a long-awaited Test debut in the Brisbane pink ball game, but the bowling all-rounder has not yet given up hope of a call-up on his home ground in Sydney next week.
"We can dream,” he said earlier this week.
“I feel like my body is in a great place ... It’d be nice to put my hand up at least for selection, because that was another frustration (of being injured).
“I don’t think selections would have been any different for the first three games, but it’s frustrating to not be there and be able to put your hand up to make selectors make a call."
Abbott has been recalled to the Sixers' squad for their Boxing Day game against Melbourne Stars along with Ben Manenti, who replaces Boxing Day Test squad member Todd Murphy.
Melbourne Stars could field an unchanged XI, having added Jono Merlo to their 14-man roster ahead of fast bowler Tom Whitney.
Sydney Sixers Boxing Day squad:
Moises Henriques (c), Sean Abbott, Babar Azam, Jafer Chohan, Joel Davies, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Daniel Hughes, Ben Manenti, Josh Philippe (wk), Kane Richardson, Jake Scott, Lachlan Shaw, Jordan Silk
Melbourne Stars Boxing Day squad:
Marcus Stoinis (c), Hilton Cartwright, Joe Clarke, Tom Curran, Sam Harper (wk), Liam Hatcher, Campbell Kellaway, Glenn Maxwell, Hamish McKenzie, Jono Merlo, Haris Rauf, Tom Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mitch Swepson
