I tell ya, when luck’s not on your side, it’s really not on your side.
Melbourne Renegades wicketkeeper Peter Nevill is absolutely in the wars as of late, with the rising gloveman suffering his second serious head knock in just over a week.
During last night’s Big Bash League clash against the Adelaide Strikers, Nevill went down in a nasty incident after a rogue bat handle struck him in the face, prompting fears the strike had broken the 31-year-old’s jaw.
Late in the game, with Adelaide attempting to reel in the Renegades’ target score of 151, Strikers skipper Brad Hodge attempted a pull shot off the bowling of Thisara Perera. But in doing so, his bat flew out of his hands (he’d replaced his batting gloves literally the ball before) and cannoned into the unsuspecting head of Nevill, whose eyes were trained on the ball.
Poor Peter Nevill just can’t take a trick.
What has been your worst injury, or the worst injury you’ve witnessed, on the cricket field? pic.twitter.com/jeup4rqqhB— TopBetta (@TopBetta) January 16, 2017
Nevill’s face suffered nasty swelling and there were initial fears he’d been knocked unconscious. Trainers and officials helped Nevill from the field, and he took no further part in the game.
Subsequent medical testing and x-rays cleared Nevill’s jaw of any fractures, but a burst blood vessel in his face has ruled him out of the remainder of the BBL tournament.
The incident comes just over a week after a rogue bounce saw Nevill wear a ball on the scone during the Renegades January 9th clash with the Sydney Sixers. Nevill was assessed for concussion on the sidelines and was cleared to return to that game shortly afterwards.
Honestly, the only logical conclusion to draw here is that the game of cricket, or at least the BBL, is out to get Nevill, and it will not rest until its thirst for blood is sated.
Nevill will sit out the rest of this year’s Big Bash tournament, but is expected to return for New South Wales‘ Sheffield Shield game against Victoria, beginning on February 1.
Source: BigBash.com.au.
Photo: Morne DeKlerk, CA/Getty.
