Sydney Thunder recruit Nic Maddinson’s BBL|14 campaign is in jeopardy due to a broken finger which requires surgery this week.
Maddinson broke his finger fielding in NSW Premier Cricket for Eastern Suburbs on Saturday after making 36 from 37 and bowling 3 overs for 0-12.
The top-order bat has been ruled out of NSW’s upcoming Sheffield Shield game against WA and will undergo surgery this week.
Maddinson’s timeline will depend on how the surgery goes, but it could be a lengthy injury, impacting his availability in BBL|14.
The batsman had been slated to come in at first drop after David Warner and Cameron Bancroft, with his absence potentially opening up a slot for young gun Sam Konstas or even Jason Sangha and Matthew Gilkes.
Bancroft could even be demoted to bat 3, with one of the aforementioned trio elevated to open following the off-season exit of Alex Hales.
Red-ball talent Konstas has only played 1 white-ball game for NSW, scoring 10 against SA last month, but managed 107 from 97 balls on Sunday in the Prime Minister’s XI game against India.
Sangha has endured a long dip in form after being a BBL breakout several seasons and is currently sidelined with a minor bicep injury sustained in the One-Day Cup against NSW on November 12.
Gilkes, who made 13 off 21 balls for UNSW on the weekend, has been in decent One-Day Cup form with NSW with scores of 41, 74 and 35 in his 3 games this season. He batted 6 or 7 in those games.
Ollie Davies is another option to be elevated up the order, with English wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings utilised at 4.
Talented all-rounder Will Salzmann is a left-field option, but has been opening the batting for Sydney University lately. However, he’s not bowled in recent games hinting at an unconfirmed injury worry.
Middle-order gun Sherfane Rutherford is all but certain to miss Round 1 on international duty, having been named in the West Indies ODI squad for games against Bangladesh (December 8-12) with selection for the T20Is (December 15-19) to come, which clash with Round 1.
The Thunder have no bye this season but also no early double. Their double comes in Round 6.
View our predicted Round 1 Sydney Thunder line-up
