Matthew Renshaw is excited about the prospect of racking up some frequent flyers points, and getting the Brisbane Heat in to the Big Bash final, after Cricket Australia granted a request for him to leave the Test squad in Adelaide and play in Friday night’s qualifying final on the Gold Coast.
Already without a raft of key players after several early exits by international stars, Renshaw was called up to the Test squad for the opening clash in Adelaide, but wasn’t picked in the final XI.
After play began on Wednesday, CA confirmed the star batter would would be released from to play for the Heat in the “Qualifier” against the Sydney Sixers as Heritage Bank Stadium on the Gold Coast, with the winner to go straight through to the BBL final.
Renshaw, will leave Adelaide after play finishes on day two, get from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, play the match on Friday, then be back in Adelaide by the start of day four on Saturday.
“I will fly out tomorrow night after the day’s play, play Friday night, come back. A bit of Frequent Flyer points there. Excited to be back for the Heat in an important game,” he told Channel 7 during the opening day’s play of the Test.
It’s a huge relief for the Heat, who are already without four of their players – Test pair Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja, and imports Colin Munro and Sam Billings – for the finals series.
The Heat have also been disadvantaged by having the match relocated to the Gold Coast, with the Gabba unavailable due to preparations for the second Test against the Windies.
“Unfortunately, with the way that this to cricket season has worked, we don’t get our home ground we get to play at the Gold Coast, which we’ve always enjoyed playing down there, but you win a home final, you want to play at your home ground,” Renshaw said.
‘Unfortunately, we’re not able to play at the Gabba but that’s the way cricket is nowadays, you have got to be able to chop and change when you need to. I think the double chance is huge being able to at least host one final and if we lose to the Sixers, we still get to play the winner of the Strikers and Scorchers.”
A loss on Friday would mean the Heat would have to defeat the winner of Saturday’s knockout battle between the Perth Scorchers and the Adelaide Strikers to make the final.