The Brisbane Heat will welcome back Australian representatives Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne for tomorrow’s must-win KFC Big Bash League match against the Hobart Hurricanes at the Gabba.
The international pair will suit up for the Heat for the first time this season, as Brisbane chase the first of two wins from their remaining games to qualify for the Finals for the third year in a row.
Khawaja will captain the side with NZ international Colin Munro missing the game to enable further recovery time for the finger he dislocated while fielding against the Adelaide Strikers on Saturday.
Munro is expected to be available for selection for Saturday’s last regular season game against the Melbourne Renegades at Marvel Stadium.
Opener Jack Wood also drops out of the team that played in the high-scoring loss to the Strikers.
English allrounder Paul Walter comes back into the squad after recovering from a minor shoulder complaint that saw him miss the past two games.
Khawaja and Labuschagne replace Local Replacement Players Daniel Drew and Tom Straker in the Heat squad for this game after being granted approval from the BBL Technical Committee.
Tickets are selling rapidly for tomorrow night’s game, which is also the Heat’s annual First Nations match.
The Heat will wear their distinctive First Nations strip for the final two games of the season, with Saturday’s game against the Melbourne Renegades also celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The club’s playing strip was designed by Queensland artist ‘Aunty’ Delly McDonald and former Heat player Mikayla Hinkley.
The designs incorporate a centrepiece in Heat colours that depicts the Brisbane Cricket Ground in Woolloongabba (“place of whirling water”).
The centre circle is the Gabba, alongside other water holes which used to be near the ground. There are 87 strokes that represent the first-class wickets taken by the trail-blazing Aboriginal great, Eddie Gilbert (23 games for Queensland).
The back of the playing shirt contains a Circle representing the Gabba, with the lines radiating out illustrating the journeys the teams take to and from the ground.
KFC Big Bash League
Brisbane Heat v Hobart Hurricanes
The Gabba, tomorrow, 6.30pm Qld time
1. Usman Khawaja (c)
27. Tom Alsop
19. Xavier Bartlett
17. Max Bryant
45. Spencer Johnson
30. Matt Kuhnemann
33. Marnus Labuschagne
20. Michael Neser
38. Nathan McSweeney
8. Will Prestwidge
77. Matthew Renshaw
4. Mitch Swepson
22. Paul Walter