The Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat named their squads for Thursday’s game while there were injury updates for Michael Neser, Ashton Turner, Matthew Wade, Matt Renshaw and Josh Brown.
SQUAD NEWS
The Melbourne Renegades named a 14-man squad for Thursday’s game against the Brisbane Heat at Marvel Stadium, with Shaun Marsh still not available following a calf issue.
Marsh had returned at club level for Fremantle in WA on the weekend, with his absence helping Jake Fraser-McGurk’s top 3 role. Peter Siddle drops out of the Gades’ squad along with import Jordan Cox.
Adam Zampa ($139k BWL) indicated he’ll be back in action after missing last game “managed”. He said: “Much needed (break). It was a hectic 4-5 months (with overseas tours and the World Cup). For me, it was good to get home, recharge the batteries. It’s good to be back in Melbourne and into it.”
Renegades squad: Maddinson (c), Clarke, Dixon, Finch, Fraser-McGurk, Harvey, de Kock, O’Neill, Richardson, Rogers, Sutherland, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Wells, Zampa
The Heat named a 15-man squad for the trip to Melbourne, with 18-year-old fast bowler Callum Vidler added as a local replacement player.
Matt Renshaw (hamstring) and Josh Brown (foot) had been under injury clouds but have been declared available. The Heat said: “Renshaw and Brown have overcome minor fitness concerns from last week’s win over the Sydney Thunder to take their place in the squad, with both training without incident at the team’s past two training sessions.”
Michael Neser spoke about his fitness, having withdrawn from the PM’s XI game with “soreness” before playing the Heat’s opening few games. He said: “I’m feeling great now. It was a matter of back-to-back Shield games, I had a little bit of soreness in my side. I didn’t want it to blow out and put me out for 6 weeks. So it was one week rest and then back into it.”
Heat squad: Munro (c), Bartlett, Billings, Brown, Bryant, Buckingham, Johnson, Kuhnemann, McSweeney, Neser, Peirson, Renshaw, Swepson, Vidler, Walter
View our predicted Round 2 line-ups with SuperCoach explanations
UPDATES
Glenn Maxwell’s availability in Round 3 has been a hot topic of discussion following a forearm injury and Stars teammate Tom Rogers offered an update. He told SEN: “Maxy is tracking well. Hoping to have him back for Saturday which would be massive for us. Obviously he’s our captain and he’s been unbelievable in the last 2 years. Really excited to hopefully have him back.”
In other news, Honeyball understands the Sydney Sixers are still working through a return date for Hayden Kerr from his side issue and Sean Abbott’s availability remains to be confirmed after missing last game for personal reasons.
Perth Scorchers captain Ashton Turner picked up a knee issue during that game, limping off the field after only bowling one ball. Teammate Jason Behrendorff said: “I had a quick chat to him. He’s pretty confident and pretty hopeful that it’s not too bad. I don’t know too much more than that. Hopefully it’s not as bad as it potentially might have been.”
Behrendorff also praised Lance Morris and described his role. He said: “it’s a real prize to have him when he’s available. Put guys on the back foot, bowl some bouncers. That’s his role in the team, to come in and be an impact bowler. He took a wicket with his first ball.”
Hobart Hurricanes wicketkeeper-batsman Matthew Wade missed Wednesday’s game due to “back pain”. Riley Meredith missed the game with a side issue.
