Hilton Cartwright has been cleared of a serious neck injury, with the Melbourne Stars allrounder released from hospital following his frightening opening night in the BBL.
Cartwright was placed in a neck brace and stretchered onto a medi-cab in the Stars’ season-opening loss to Perth, after landing awkwardly while diving in the field.
The 32-year-old’s neck appeared to snap back painfully while diving for a ball on the boundary, before he lay motionless on the turn for almost five minutes.
The incident overshadowed the competition’s season opener, with immediate fears over Cartwright’s long-term health.
But the Stars confirmed on Monday morning that Cartwright had been released from hospital, and was in relatively good health with whiplash the only concern.
“Hilton Cartwright has been cleared of any serious damage to his neck whilst fielding in last night’s match against the Perth Scorchers,” the Stars said in a statement.
“Cartwright underwent scans and spent overnight in hospital but has now been released and will rejoin the squad in Melbourne in the next few days.
“A return to play will be determined once he is back in Melbourne.”
Cartwright will fly back separate to the rest of the Stars squad, depending on how sore he is throughout Monday.
The Stars play again on Wednesday night against Brisbane at the MCG, before backing up two days later at the same venue against Adelaide.
Jhye Richardson snared 3-19 as the Stars spluttered their way to 9-146 from their allotted overs in Sunday night’s BBL season opener in Perth.
In reply, the Scorchers reached the victory target with 17 balls to spare thanks largely to a career-best knock from Cooper Connolly (64 off 51 balls) and a cool head from captain Ashton Turner (37 not out off 27 balls).
Nick Hobson (27no off 14 balls) joined the fun once Connolly was dismissed.
The finish was overshadowed by Cartwright’s injury.
Cartwright’s neck snapped back painfully after he dived at full pace in an attempt to save a boundary.
The 32-year-old lay motionless on the turf after sliding to a stop, and medical staff carefully assessed him for almost five minutes before loading him onto the medi-cab.
“They’ve ruled out concussion and that sort of thing but he’s going to hospital for some scans on his neck,” Stars captain Marcus Stoinis said post-match.
“He’s a heartbeat of our team – but not only us, with Western Australia and the Scorchers, he’s a very well-respected guy.
“Hopefully he’s alright… we ran there pretty quick to see him but there’s nothing you can really do.”
“We’ve all got genuine concern for Hilts – we all hope he’s okay,” Scorchers coach Adam Voges added.
“He’s a West Australian and much loved. We wish him the best and certainly hope it’s positive news.”
The 30,469 crowd was a record attendance for a BBL season opener, eclipsing the 27,676 of BBL04.
Scorchers pace duo Richardson (3-19) and Jason Behrendorff (1-19) were near unplayable early as the Stars made a snail-paced start to the game.
The Stars were 2-3 from 3.2 overs after Joe Clarke (0 off 9 balls) and Sam Harper (1) fell to a rampant Richardson.
Behrendorff helped set up the scalps by returning figures of 0-2 across his first two overs, and the Stars’ score of 2-13 after the four-over powerplay left them with a mountain to climb.
Stoinis (37 off 33 balls) had the scoreboard ticking over before he ran himself out through a direct hit from AJ Tye.
England allrounder Tom Curran (37 off 19) took 22 runs from one Tye over to put the Stars on track for a score in excess of 160.
But with wickets falling at regular intervals, the visitors’ momentum stalled, with Lance Morris (2-30) snaring the scalps of Curran and Adam Milne in the 19th over to prevent any late fireworks.
New Scorchers import Finn Allen ensured the run chase started with a bang, thumping fellow Kiwi Milne for a huge six first ball before being clean bowled on the next delivery.
Evergreen Peter Siddle snared his 100th BBL wicket when the 40-year-old sent Keaton Jennings packing, and it was 3-37 when Englishman Matty Hurst was caught.
Connolly struggled early in his innings but soon warmed to the task and combined with Ashton Turner for a 68-run stand that turned the momentum Perth’s way.
© AAP
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