NSW have been forced to rule two batsmen out of their Sheffield Shield opener because of concussion.
The Blues have named a 13-man squad, confirming Nic Maddinson and Daniel Hughes will both miss the Gabba clash with Queensland.
Hughes was substituted out of last Friday’s one-day cup elimination final after being struck on the helmet then missed Sunday’s final.
Maddinson also copped a blow to the helmet last Friday but batted on and took part in the Blues’ six-wicket win over Queensland on Sunday.
“Nic began feeling unwell during the latter part of the final and subsequently failed a further concussion test after the match,” NSW team doctor John Orchard said.
“As a result, he has been withdrawn from the Sheffield Shield squad.
“Cricket Australia’s concussion policy requires that players are monitored, including follow-up tests for signs of concussion in the days after a knock to the head.”
Test players Steve Smith, David Warner, Peter Nevill, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon have been included in a star-studded NSW squad.
Starc, who is set to return from a badly cut leg that required 30 stitches, will play a limited role in the match.
The left-armer will have strict bowling restrictions placed on him ahead of the next week’s firs Test, while he is also likely to field in the slips.
NSW 13-man squad: Steve Smith (captain), Doug Bollinger, Ryan Carters, Trent Copeland, Ed Cowan, Ryan Gibson, Josh Hazlewood, Moises Henriques, Nathan Lyon, Peter Nevill, Kurtis Patterson, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Unfortunately ( and fortunately ) I have had to do Dad stuff and missed it. Good to see them hang on. They need to score big tomorrow. Doesn't surprise me Starc was off. he has not bowled for some time.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Rellum have you been watching the live stream this past hour? Starc/Hazlewood vs Burns/Khawaja under lights...fascinating stuff. Burns has looked really good, Khawaja a bit looser. Hazlewood his usual probing self, Starc's radar off a tad.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Good come back from the Bulls, 4 quick wickets to have them at 6-272. This day night stuff shows you really need to make the most of the arvo session, which is what NSW has done, unfortunately.
Rellum
Roar Guru
NSW completely on top at tea. QLD lack of fire power with the ball is being exposed.
Rellum
Roar Guru
We desperately need to break this partnership. They are talking the game away from us.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
I'm with you and Chappelli Rell. Also the classic back foot hook, getting inside the line, is sadly becoming a thing of the past. Replaced by the front foot pull. Audacious for sure but not the same and somewhat supported by the bats which have sweet spots on the edges.. This is why I'm not a fan if a substitute batsman if a bloke get's sconed. Stop relying on the protection, which we all know is flawed, and the big cannon. Maddinson seemed to get caught because it was too high to pull, then lost the ball in the shot.
Rellum
Roar Guru
http://www.cricket.com.au/video/nic-maddinson-struck-on-helmet-elimination-final-matador-cup-nsw-victoria-concussion/2016-10-24 That is the incident, with Chapelli echoing my comments above.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
A bit from column A, and a bit from column B. I don't know that a lot more batsmen are getting hit on the head than say, 10 or 15 years ago. Certainly more than the days before helmets, but that's just the nature of things. Having protective equipment will change how you play. If I'm batting without pads I'm probably not going to play a classic drive with my bat and pad together as much as it increases the chance of getting hit in the leg, but wearing pads means I can do that. Similar with helmets. It offers some protection that allows batsmen to do things that would have been too risky in the pre-helmet days. It does mean they might get hit, but more often than not the helmet does it's job and they are okay. Sometimes it hits pretty flush and knocks them around a bit. Going back to before the Hughes tragedy, people didn't worry about it so much. If nothing was broken you'd get back out there and keep playing. But that shone a light on head injuries very starkly, and then add to that all that's happened with research into concussions, much of it coming from research of retired NFL players in the US, and people are realising the concussions are actually a lot more serious than we ever thought before, so they are taking them a lot more seriously now.
Rellum
Roar Guru
Maddinson tends to get on the front foot for all shots. His pull shot has been a front foot shot. If he finds himself with an awkward one he will get into more trouble than a batsmen who can get onto the back foot with quick feet.
Gavin R
Guest
The problem is batsman dont know how to play the short ball as well as they did back in the day where no helmets was the norm.
Nanda Kumar Srinivasan
Guest
More batsmen getting hit on their helmets is not good news. Is cricket suddenly becoming a more dangerous sport or is it just a case of greater awareness post the Hughes tragedy, and more cases are being taken seriously and being monitored. Certainly batsmen 's techniques may be the reason but it may be worthwhile to record and monitor the trend globally and take corrective action before another tragedy strikes.
Rellum
Roar Guru
QLD's squad is Usman Khawaja (c) Joe Burns Ben Cutting Luke Feldman Jason Floros Peter Forrest Peter George Chris Hartley Charlie Hemphrey Marnus Labuschagne Michael Neser Mitch Swepson I guess George or Feldman will carry the drinks. Heazlett, Lynn, Renshaw and Stanlake are all injured so it will be tough for the mighty Bulls.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I guess from NSW point of view if they are going to be missing a couple of batsman, this match where they've got all the test players back is the one to be missing them. Hopefully they are both feeling better pretty quickly!