South Australia hit by injury to key paceman

South Australia have suffered a setback before a ball is bowled in the 2022-23 summer, with fast-bowling spearhead Brendan Doggett to miss the opening rounds of the Marsh Sheffield Shield and One-Day Cup competitions due to a hip injury.

Doggett, who took 17 wickets in his maiden season with SA having relocated from Queensland last year, hurt his hip flexor during a recent Redbacks pre-season training session.

Given the 28-year-old's injury history – he battled back and leg injuries in Queensland, and a side strain restricted him to five of a possible eight Shield appearances for SA last summer – Redbacks coaching staff are taking an understandably cautious approach with their strike bowler.

It's a similar mindset to that employed last season when Doggett's arrival in Adelaide was delayed by a couple of months due to COVID-19 border restrictions, and he was rested from the opening round of the Shield and One-Day Cup campaigns.

"He sustained a medium-grade hip flexor strain bowling at training," Redbacks physiotherapist Sam Offord said today.

"We'll try and progress him as quickly as we can but he's likely to gradually build up his training load and then his bowling load over the next couple of weeks.

"We hope to see him back around mid-October."

Doggett is not the only casualty of an off-season training program that has been undertaken in Adelaide save for a two-day camp to Yankalilla on the state's Fleurieu Peninsula.

Middle-order batter Thomas Kelly, who made his first-class debut in last season's final Shield game where SA defeated New South Wales to record their first win in more than two years, has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower leg.

Kelly, whose form in Second XI and Adelaide Premier Cricket last summer saw him capped in BBL, Marsh One-Day Cup and Shield cricket within a five-month time, has been restricted to batting drills in recent weeks.

The 21-year-old right-hander was tipped to push for a regular berth in the Redbacks' starting XI when skipper Travis Head and keeper Alex Carey are required for Test duties later in the season.

However, a combination of the bulking-up work he's undertaken over winter and his off-season running program have resulted in an injury that will keep him out of this month's first phase of Marsh One-Day Cup games and at least the opening round of Shield fixtures.

"Just building his training up over the off season and trying to get him fitter and stronger and better than he has been, he's already an impressive player for us," Offord said of Kelly's setback.

"He's sustained a lower leg stress injury, so we've been a bit conservative with that and pulled him back a little bit to settle that down.

"He'll build his training up over the next month and hopefully he'll be back in a similar time frame (to Doggett), early to mid-October."

Fast bowler Wes Agar also suffered a slight strain following his return from playing in Darwin's mid-year Strike League, but he returned to action in a rain-affected two-day trial match at Adelaide's Park 25 earlier this week.

The Redbacks have another one-day trial pencilled in before they depart for Brisbane next week ahead of their Marsh One-Day Cup season openers against Queensland (September 26) and Tasmania (September 28) at Allan Border Field.

SA's first Shield game of the season is against Victoria at Adelaide Oval from October 6-9.