Hilton Cartwright cleared of serious injury after scary scenes in BBL season-opener
Updated . First published at
Melbourne Stars all-rounder Hilton Cartwright has been cleared of serious injury after he was stretchered off Optus Stadium on Sunday night.
Cartwright suffered the injury in an awkward dive in his side's six-wicket loss in the BBL season-opener against the Scorchers.
In a statement on Monday morning, the Stars said Cartwright had undergone scans and spent the night in hospital, but has since been released.
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He will rejoin the team in Melbourne in the coming days, but a date on his playing return is unclear.
Perth Scorchers young gun Cooper Connolly drove the ball through the covers with Cartwright chasing it to the boundary.
Hilton Cartwright is taken from the field in a neck brace. Getty
Cartwright dived full length to his left but unfortunately helped it on its way to the boundary. The 32-year-old then stayed on the ground and showed obvious signs of pain.
"It doesn't look good ... he looks like he's in a lot of bother," commentator Mark Howard said on Fox Cricket.
Cartwright rose to his knees but then moved to lay on his back at the advice of medical staff.
A medicab arrived on the field with staff attending to Cartwright's neck before he was taken off in a neck brace.
"It's the sort of ground that's hard to slide on," Mark Waugh said.
"It's never a nice thing to see, it makes you feel flat, I'm sure all the Melbourne Stars fans are flat, let's just hope he's OK," Mike Hussey added.
The Stars had earlier posted a score of 9-146 with Scorchers star Jhye Richardson taking 3-19.
Connolly's 64 helped Perth chase that total down inside 17.1 overs with only four wickets falling.
The Stars' next match is against the Heat in Melbourne on Wednesday night.
- Additional reporting by Damien McCartney
