Nevill ruled out of BBL season after bat blow
Wicketkeeper Peter Nevill will miss the rest of the Melbourne Renegades’ BBL season after scans found he had burst a blood vessel in his cheek when he was struck by a bat against the Adelaide Strikers.
The former Test gloveman was taken to hospital after the bat slipped out of Brad Hodge’s hands and struck Nevill handle-first on the side of the face at the Adelaide Oval.
Nevill was standing back when Hodge swung lustily at a leg-side ball – and while he connected with the ball, his bat slipped from his hands.
The 'keeper was watching the path of the ball into the outfield when the handle of Hodge's bat struck him in the right cheek.
Nevill was floored by the contact and then assisted from the field with noticeable facial swelling, before the Renegades closed out a victory to kept their finals hopes alive.
"I have never seen anything like it. That was staggering," Nevill’s teammate Callum Ferguson said.
Adelaide captain Hodge said he had swapped batting gloves the ball prior to the incident.
The Renegades must beat second-placed Brisbane Heat on Friday night in Brisbane without Nevill or Matthew Wade, who is on international duty, and hope other results fall their way to reach the play-offs.
