Stanlake joins Hurricanes to go all-in on Tassie rebirth

Billy Stanlake has gone all-in on his Tasmanian pursuit with the injury-plagued speedster released from his Melbourne Stars contract to join the Hobart Hurricanes.

Stanlake, who confirmed his move from Queensland to the Tigers in May, had a year to run on his three-year deal with the Stars but was released from his contract to align his state and Big Bash commitments.

The 27-year-old didn't play for the Stars at all last season after a stress fracture he sustained four overs into his County Championship debut earlier in 2021 kept him out of the tournament before he reaggravated the injury in January while bowling at 50 per cent during his rehab.

The 204cm right-armer hasn't played since May 2021 – which was the latest in a string of injury setbacks over his six-year career – with a fresh start and a new opportunity the reason behind Stanlake's desire to shift states for the 2022-23 season.

"This season I've made one of the biggest decisions of my career to date by moving states and changing where I train and play for the majority of the year, so to me, it just made the most sense to go all in, and base where I play all of my cricket in the one place," Stanlake said in a statement.

"I've obviously had injury troubles for the last 18 months or so, but I'm really happy with how things are progressing and the return to bowling plan we've been working on down here, and so in order to be the best player that I can be for whatever team I commit to, I think this is the best option for all involved."

But if Stanlake can regain fitness ahead of KFC BBL|12, it presents an enticing proposition for Hurricanes coach Jeff Vaughan and head of strategy Ricky Ponting, strengthening an already formidable attack boasting quicks Nathan Ellis, Riley Meredith and Joel Paris, and Pakistan duo Shadab Khan and Faheem Ashraf, who the club secured in Sunday's inaugural overseas player draft.

Ponting has been a long-time fan of Stanlake, naming him his 'rising star' of the 2017-18 summer and saying the then Adelaide Strikers bowler has the makings of one of the game's "all-time great fast bowlers".

"When we see him get a bit more of a tank and grow into his body a bit more and put on a little bit of weight, I think he's someone that could be one of the all-time great fast bowlers," Ponting told cricket.com.au in early 2018.

"That's all there ahead of him, we just hope he stays in one piece and becomes the kind of cricketer we all think he can be."

If Stanlake does get his body right before the Big Bash, he could be set for a return to the MCG in his first match with the Hurricanes to open their campaign against the Stars at the venue on December 16.

The Stars, who took New Zealand ace Trent Boult with the third pick in the draft alongside English left-armer Luke Wood, don't appear to be too disadvantaged by Stanlake's departure with Aussie leg-spinner Adam Zampa to lead an attack featuring their two international recruits and local quicks Nathan Coulter-Nile, Liam Hatcher and Brody Couch.

The Hurricanes will be Stanlake's third Big Bash club after a five-year stint at the Adelaide Strikers prior to joining the Stars.

The former ODI and T20 international quick is renowned for his vicious yorker and steep bounce and has claimed 47 wickets with an economy rate of 8.06 in 51 matches for the Stars and Strikers.

"The main priority is getting down there, getting my body right and then getting back on the field," Stanlake told cricket.com.au in May.

"It's been a long and frustrating 12 months.

"To do all the work to get back to the point where I was getting close to 100 per cent bowling again in January, for it then to re-fracture was pretty bloody disappointing after all the effort going in over the past eight months or so."

Prior to his move south, scans showed the injury appeared to be on the mend, the first good news he'd had since the setback in January.

Stanlake has had a dreadful run with injuries over the past decade – he suffered two back stress fractures as an 18 and 19-year-old, along with similar injuries in his pelvis and feet among other medium-term setbacks such as a broken pinky finger and an infected toe.

Image Id: https://www.cricket.com.au/~/media/News/2022/05/6stanlaket20?la=en&hash=D29E076131594C724F90E3FC281CCC3C58292B4F Image Caption: Stanlake has represented Australia 26 times in white-ball cricket // Getty

But the re-fracture in January proved to be the tipping point for Stanlake to get to the bottom of his back issues.

He went to see world-renowned Gold Coast spinal surgeon Matthew Scott-Young, who was one of the consultants behind Tiger Woods' incredible comeback from his Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion in 2017.

"Once it re-fractured, I was obviously pretty angry and frustrated about everything and I just wanted to do everything I could to find some answers and solutions of what was going on and why and things I could do differently going forward," said Stanlake.

"We got a little bit of clarity about what was going on and changed my rehab a little bit after seeing him."

While reluctant to put a timeline on his return to the field, Stanlake is hoping it is sooner rather than later.

"I just want to be playing cricket at the end of the day and when you can't do it, you pretty soon realise how much you miss it," he said.

"I treat it as a day-to-day process, I've always thought another week down, another week closer to getting better, that's the way I've tried to look at it and I think that's definitely helped keep me motivated and fresh going through a pretty long rehab."

Stanlake fills the 14th spot on the Hurricanes 18-player roster for BBL|12 with Ponting and Vaughan still to add four more domestic signings before the tournament.

Hobart Hurricanes BBL|12 squad (so far): Asif Ali (Pakistan), Faheem Ashraf (Pakistan), Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Caleb Jewell, Shadab Khan (Pakistan), Ben McDermott, Riley Meredith, Mitch Owen, Joel Paris, Wil Parker, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Matthew Wade

Tickets for Weber WBBL and KFC BBL games are on sale now. Get yours at cricket.com.au/big-bash