Sean Abbott travelling with Sydney Sixers on long road trip in bid to get him back in action quicker
Although gutted at missing Australia’s upcoming ODI tour of India, Sean Abbott is aiming to return to the Sydney Sixers line-up towards the back end of the Big Bash to help their finals cause.
Big Bash
Don't miss out on the headlines from Big Bash. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The Sydney Sixers are leaving no stone unturned to get fast bowler Sean Abbott back on the field as quickly as possible after a freak injury cost him his place in Australia’s one-day tour of India.
Abbott’s gutted at missing the tour after straining his left side in last week’s heart-stopping Big Bash win over the Thunder after it took him more than five years to fight his way back into the Australian ODI side.
So the Sixers are doing everything they can to console their crestfallen teammate and speed up his recovery in the hope that he can at least make it back for the tailend of the BBL season.
Watch every single KFC BBL match LIVE & On-Demand on KAYO with FOX CRICKET’s unmatched commentary line-up. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
That includes taking him on the road for the next three away matches – starting with Thursday night’s clash with the Renegades in Melbourne – so he can get daily treatment from the team’s physiotherapists.
“It’s obviously quite disappointing but I’m pretty lucky the Sixers are looking after me and letting me travel with the team so I can see Danny (Redrup) the physio every day and do my rehab with Ross Herridge,” Aboott said.
“While it feels all right now and I’m moving around quite well and it’s not that painful at the minute, I just have to see how things progress and go from there.”
The leading wicket taker in BBL09 with 11 scalps, Abbott had no warning about the pending injury but knew straight away something was wrong when he felt a sharp pain while bowling his final over against the Thunder at the SCG.
He didn’t bat in his team’s innings and missed the nerve-jangling Super Over, which his side won by a run, as a precaution but didn’t think the injury was that serious until he underwent scans and was ruled out for four weeks.
“Once we saw the scan it was pretty clear and we have to give a fair bit of respect to the scan,” he said.
“It’s obviously disappointing because I was chuffed when I got a phone call from (Australian selector Trevor Hohns) then saw who was in the (Australian ODI) team.
“I felt pretty lucky that I was part of it, especially with the bowling line-up we were taking over, so obviously it was a big achievement for myself so that makes it a little bit more disappointing that I won’t be going, but there will be plenty of cricket once I'm back read to play.”
Sixers captain Moises Henriques said Abbott’s injury could even turn out to be a blessing in disguise for his chances of getting back into the Australian side for this year’s T20 World Cup.
“That’s probably the worst part to see him robbed of his chance at the next level to challenge himself against the best players,” Henriques said.
“But if there’s any one-day tour as a bowler you don’t want to go on, it’s probably India where you’ve got to bowl to (Virat) Kohli on small grounds and fast outfields so hopefully he gets another chance somewhere that might be a little more bowler friendly.”