The Brisbane Heat and Melbourne Stars squads were confirmed ahead of Round 5, with a new import added and a big injury blow for the Stars on the double.
SQUAD NEWS
The Melbourne Stars named their 14-player squad for their Round 5 opening clash away to the Brisbane Heat at the Gabba on Friday night.
The Stars revealed top-order batsman Joe Clarke will miss the game with a hip injury and has been replaced in the squad by English middle-order bat Sam Hain, who has a 4-game contract as an overseas replacement player.
That doesn’t mean Clarke will miss 4 games, with the Stars updating on him: “Clarke sustained a hip injury while batting against the Thunder on Sunday night. Clarke will continue to be assessed over the coming days for a return date to play.”
Hain has been priced at $58k BAT. The Englishman, who was already in Queensland, previously played BBL for the Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes. He scored 460 runs in 14 knocks, averaging 41.81 with a strike rate of 146 for Birmingham Bears in this year’s T20 Blast, impressing in the middle order, primarily batting 4.
Hain’s most recent BBL stint, in 2023-24, with Hobart was a disappointment hence his price tag, but in 2022-23 he managed 181 runs from 9 knocks in the middle order for the Heat, averaging 45.25 with a 119 strike rate, so he can handle Aussie conditions.
The Stars have also added Victorian top-order bat Blake Macdonald as a replacement player for the injured Mark Steketee. Macdonald impressed with 79 and 109* in his most recent Sheffield Shield game for Victoria and has been a part of the Stars Academy squad.
Melbourne Stars
Ins: Hain, Macdonald / Outs: Clarke (injury), Merlo
Stars squad: Stoinis (c), Cartwright, Curran, Hain, Haris Rauf, Harper, Hatcher, Kellaway, MacDonald, McKenzie, Maxwell, Rogers, Siddle, Swepson
The Heat confirmed the return of Nathan McSweeney following a few games out with an ankle injury. He was the only change for Brisbane, with no one dropping out.
Brisbane Heat
Ins: McSweeney
Heat squad: McSweeney (c), Balkin, Bartlett, Bryant, Haskett, Hearne, Kuhnemann, Munro, Patterson, Peirson, Renshaw, Weibgen, Wildermuth, Wood
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Ben Somerford
