Stars unveil ‘Wild Thing’ for BBL opener

Melbourne Stars have named two new signings to bolster their injury-hit squad for their KFC BBL opener on Friday night, including a young quick who bowled "rockets" at England last summer.

Twenty-year-old Western Australian Lance Morris has been named in a 13-man squad to take on Sydney Thunder in Canberra, picked alongside NSW batsman Nick Larkin.

Morris replaces injured quick Dan Worrall in the Stars’ squad while Larkin comes in for big-name recruit Nic Maddinson, who has been ruled out until the new year with a broken arm.

Morris is a raw right-armer who was handed a rookie contract with WA earlier this year and has already made a big impression on his state teammates.

"We call him 'The Wild Thing', he bowls very, very quick," Warriors allrounder Hilton Cartwright told cricket.com.au in September.

"He played in the WA XI against England last year and he bowled rockets.

"Even when he bowls off about five steps in the nets, he still bowls rockets. He's definitely one to watch."

The raw but unpredictable ability of Morris was on display in a tour match against the touring England side in Perth last summer; having found the edge of opener Mark Stoneman to slip, the next ball Morris bowled was a wild bouncer to skipper Joe Root that the wicketkeeper grabbed high above his head in front of first slip, with the umpire signalling a wide.

Having spent the off-season sidelined by a serious back injury, the right-armer took figures of 6-35 in a Toyota Future’s League match against Queensland a month ago.

The Stars are set to play two leg-spinners against the Thunder in the form of Adam Zampa and Nepalese teenager Sandeep Lamichhane, with veteran tweaker Michael Beer also in the squad.

Larkin has been called in to add batting depth to a top order that will be led by skipper Glenn Maxwell, allrounder Marcus Stoinis and wicketkeeper Ben Dunk.

The Thunder, meanwhile, have named star England recruits Jos Buttler and Root for their first matches of the season, with NSW left-hander Kurtis Patterson not selected in their 13-man squad.

The match is the first of two Thunder ‘home’ games that will be played at Manuka Oval this season, with a return to Canberra to take on the Hurricanes locked in on February 9.