Perth Scorchers young gun Cooper Connolly is set to miss the start of BBL|14 due to a fractured left hand.
The all-rounder sustained the injury in Sunday’s ODI loss to Pakistan, with Scorchers coach Adam Voges revealing to 6PR on Tuesday night that Connolly will miss 4-6 weeks.
That means the door is open to Matthew Spoors or Nick Hobson to come into the Scorchers’ line-up in the role batting at 6.
Spoors offers a bowling option too, although Perth are well stocked in that department with Ashton Agar and Aaron Hardie likely to be their preferred all-rounders alongside four quicks.
Voges told 6PR that Connolly will meet with a surgeon on Wednesday to determine the next path in his recovery from the injury.
Perth open the BBL|14 on Sunday 15 December against the Melbourne Stars at Optus Stadium, before taking on the Hobart Hurricanes away on December 21 and then the Renegades on December 23.
The Scorchers are relevant early due to those latter two fixtures, marking a Round 2 double.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Josh Inglis was on Sunday called into the Test squad for the first Test in Perth starting Friday week.
If he remains with the Test squad for the summer, he’ll be unavailable for the Scorchers too, meaning Matthew Hurst is likely to play and take the gloves.
Despite that, there are indications Inglis will be released from the Test squad if not selected in the final XI with Cricket Australia eager for players to play.
View our predicted Scorchers XI for Round 1
