Southern Stars quick to go under the knife on Friday after injury-hit WBBL campaign
Ferling to undergo elbow surgery
Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars quick Holly Ferling is set to undergo surgery on the injured elbow which cut short her Rebel Women’s Big Bash League campaign.
Ferling played just four matches for Brisbane Heat in WBBL|02 before being ruled out of their December 27 clash with Melbourne Stars due to concussion after bumping her head while attempting to take a catch.
She then missed their remaining 10 matches due to the right elbow injury.
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"Heat fast bowler Holly Ferling, who battled an elbow injury in the latter stages of the competition, will undergo surgery in Brisbane on Friday to address the issue,” the Heat said in a statement following their nine-wicket semi-final win at the WACA Ground on Tuesday.
"An injury update on her condition will be made in due course."
It’s unclear how long the 21-year-old will be sidelined for, but the surgery puts her in doubt for Australia’s upcoming three-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand and the return ODI series across the Tasman that will immediately follow.
A squad for those matches is expected to be announced next week, following Saturday’s WBBL final, with the first match to be played in Melbourne on February 17.
This latest setback continues a rough trot for Ferling, who was dropped from the Southern Stars squad after the first three ODIs against South Africa in November.
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She took two wickets in the four matches she did play for the Heat, including best figures of 1-19 against the Melbourne Stars, before the injury denied her any further opportunities to push her case for a return to the national squad.
It’s also a blow for Australia, whose coach Matthew Mott had been hoping Ferling would use the WBBL to regain her potency ahead of what will be a big year for the Southern Stars, with a 50-over World Cup title defence in June ahead of the Women’s Ashes next summer.
"That's really important from our perspective that Holly gets back to that consistency she's been striving for," Mott said at the end of Australia’s 4-0 series win over South Africa last year.
"She's trained the house down and there's not much more we can ask of her as a player.
"She puts in at training and does all the right things at recovery and with her strength training, so it's just the last piece jigsaw, that consistency to hit those hard lengths more often.
"She's showed glimpses of what we'd love to see from her but by her own admission she hasn’t been as consistent as she would have liked."