Meredith injury ‘nowhere near as bad’ as Hurricanes feared

Hobart Hurricanes speedster Riley Meredith could be back on the park within his side's next couple of games, with head coach Jeff Vaughan revealing his latest injury blow is not as bad as first feared.

Meredith left the field halfway through his second over of the Hurricanes' KFC BBL|13 season opener in Launceston on Monday after sending down a 152kph delivery to Sixers batter Daniel Hughes.

The 27-year-old right-armer immediately felt for his right side in his follow through and left the field straight away without completing the over.

Scans on Tuesday confirmed a right side injury, which is the opposite side to the one that had kept him sidelined since Tasmania's second match of the Marsh One Day Cup season in September.

But Vaughan was optimistic his star quick could be back training within a couple of days.

"The results have been promising, certainly nowhere near as bad as we initially thought," Vaughan told reporters in Hobart today.

"He's in the process of getting back; if and when and how we're not exactly sure at the moment.

"He's still very much alive for inside the next couple of games … (and) could be back in the next few days.

"(There's) a bit of relief that it's not as bad as first thought and we’re really positive and confident that he's going to be back pretty darn soon."

While Meredith has had a tough run with side, hamstring and rib injuries over the past four years, he managed to get through all 14 of Hobart's BBL fixtures last summer, as well as five Marsh Sheffield Shield matches and six Marsh Cup games.

Vaughan admits his immediate emotion upon seeing Meredith walk from the field again against the Sixers was disappointment, but he said bowling as fast as he does – where five of his nine deliveries last Monday were above 140kph – didn't come without risk.

"The player type that he is, someone who can touch 150, you're always at a bit of a risk and you're always going to be susceptible," said Vaughan.

"He's constantly working on ways and remedies to give himself every chance to be able to play for elongated periods of time and he works very hard with our physical team.

"He will constantly be pushing the line; he wants to bowl 150-plus and wants to impact games of cricket and with that comes some risk.

"He's got a wonderful skill set that is hard to replicate.

"He works bloody hard to get himself back, ready to play and ready to perform and in the small snippet that we saw, he's a pretty exciting player for us and certainly for the competition.

"He's the type of player that everyone wants to be playing and wants to be on the screens and people at home want to be watching his player type."

Should Meredith not be declared fit for their next game against the Scorchers in Perth on Wednesday, the Hurricanes have another express quick waiting in the wings with Billy Stanlake still yet to play for the club since joining from the Melbourne Stars prior to last season.

Stanlake has played all five Marsh One-Day Cup games for the Tigers in the first half of the season after managing just one second XI fixture in 2022-23 as he worked his way back to full fitness from a serious back injury, before suffering a hamstring strain last December.

The 29-year-old was part of the Hurricanes squad for their season opener but was overlooked for spin pairing Paddy Dooley and Peter Hatzoglou.

After a narrow final-over loss to the Sixers, Vaughan said his side was looking forward to testing themselves against two of competition's strongest sides in their first two games of BBL|13.

"We'll get a real feel of where we're at as we build into the tournament," he said.

"We're very confident we've compiled a really good and experienced group."

KFC BBL|13 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	7	1	0	2	0.972	0	16
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	2	0	2	0.339	0	14
3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	6	3	0	1	0.725	0	13
4 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	5	4	0	1	0.331	0	11
5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.268	0	8
6 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	4	6	0	0	-1.051	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	2	6	0	2	-0.288	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	1	7	0	2	-0.652	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

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