Victorian speedster Will Sutherland has a stress fracture in his lower back, according to scan results. The 23-year-old did not bowl in the second innings because he was in discomfort the entire game. When tests revealed a stress fracture in his lower back, Will Sutherland, a fast bowler for Victoria, will have to spend “a stint on the sidelines.” As tests indicated a back stress fracture, Will Sutherland will not play in his first UK county cricket season.
Cricket Sutherland will spend some time on the sidelines, according to David Hussey, Head of Male Cricket for Victoria. During a winter spell on the coaching staff of Melbourne Renegades, Essex head coach Anthony McGrath highlighted the 6 foot 5 inch all-rounder as a vital prospect for 2023. Even if scans reveal no severe harm, Australian cricket officials are unlikely to want a player whose status has increased significantly as a result of an amazing six months of play across all forms being forced into additional four-day cricket. It’s incredibly bad that Will has hurt himself so soon to the 2023 season, head coach Anthony McGrath remarked on the Essex website.
The contract that Sutherland had signed with Essex for the next County Championship season has been canceled after he had a standout Sheffield Shield campaign. Sutherland signed a contract with Essex just one week ago that would keep him there through the end of July, ensuring that he would be available and match-ready should injuries occur in Australia’s Ashes team. However, the club will now almost certainly need to look elsewhere for the first few rounds of a first-class competition that starts on Thursday. Peter Moores, a two-time England coach, has agreed to a two-year winter deal with the MCG-based team and has embraced the challenge of ending Melbourne Stars’ trophy drought. The 60-year-old has two Vitality Blast titles to his name with current side Nottinghamshire, while he has also won the Championship title with Sussex and Lancashire in the past. One of just two Big Bash League teams—the other being Hobart Hurricanes—The Stars has never won Australia’s Twenty20 championship.
Sutherland would have been a strong candidate for a backup all-rounder position in the Ashes team, since Aaron Hardie, a rival from the Shield final, is now almost certainly going to replace Cameron Green. The Victorian was in exceptional form in the Sheffield Shield and also had a standout BBL season playing for the Melbourne Renegades. Sutherland also took over as captain while Peter Handscomb was away for a Test match, and he guided the Vics to four straight victories, including a comfortable triumph against Western Australia in the season’s last game.
With 41 wickets at 19.92, his Shield final total moved him to the top of the leaderboard for wicket-takers in the season. In the final game, Sutherland put out a good showing, taking 5 for 75 in Western Australia’s opening innings and then scoring 83 runs in 84 deliveries after Victoria had fallen behind to set a 91-run threshold that was easily achieved.
