Meredith sidelined for BBL season with side strain

Riley Meredith is expected to miss the remainder of the Hobart Hurricanes KFC BBL season with a side strain picked up in the club's last match in Perth.

Meredith pulled up clutching at his side delivering his second over of the Hurricanes win over the Scorchers and while he finished the over, was soon sitting on the sidelines with an ice pack strapped to his chest.

"We're expecting this injury will rule Riley out of the remainder of our BBL campaign," Hurricanes physiotherapist Stewart Williamson said.

"Riley had scans yesterday, which unfortunately revealed a significant left side strain that will sideline him for at least a month.

"We will work with Riley on a rehabilitation plan to ideally have him back available for the second half of the Marsh Sheffield Shield season."

The news is a cruel blow for the Hurricanes who are already missing James Faulkner following the veteran's calf injury, while the squad has lost destructive opening batsman D'Arcy Short for a fortnight while to travels to India with Australia's ODI side.

On the plus side for Hobart, Test batsman Matthew Wade returns to take the captaincy for the team's next fixture, at the Gabba on Thursday night against a resurgent Brisbane Heat.

South African power hitter David Miller has also been cleared to play after he sat out the fielding innings in Perth with a calf niggle.

Wade returns after playing all five Tests of the Australian summer against Pakistan and New Zealand, but Ben McDermott, who had captained in Wade's absence, will retain the gloves.

The Hurricanes have also brought in fast bowler David Moody to replace Meredith.

Meanwhile, the Brisbane Heat have been boosted by the return of Joe Burns but fast bowler James Pattinson has been given more time to recover from his efforts in the Domain Test series.

Burns started the Test season with a bang hitting 96 at the Gabba in the opening match against Pakistan but struggled since.

Burns, who has played 45 matches for the Heat in his career, will join the Heat's training session tonight the Gabba ahead of Thursday night's Hurricanes clash where he needs seven runs to pass 1,000 career runs with the Heat.

Pattinson is targeting the Heat's match against the Perth Scorchers in Perth on Saturday for his initial match of BBL|09.

Brisbane Heat squad: Chris Lynn (c), Tom Banton, Max Bryant, Joe Burns, Ben Cutting, Josh Lalor, Ben Laughlin, Jimmy Peirson, Jack Prestwidge, Matt Renshaw, Mark Stekette, Mitch Swepson, Zahir Khan.

Hobart Hurricanes squad: Matthew Wade (c), Qais Ahmad, George Bailey, Scott Boland, Nathan Ellis, Caleb Jewell, Ben McDermott (wk), Simon Milenko, David Miller, David Moody, Tom Rogers, Clive Rose, Mac Wright.