Hobart Hurricanes captain Nathan Ellis has been knocked out of the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025-26 knockout clash against Melbourne Stars due to an injury he picked up in the previous game against Brisbane Heat. The nature of the injury has not been specified. If Hurricanes progress to the challenger clash, Ellis’ participation remains doubtful.
Ellis has already been rested for the T20I series against Pakistan alongside Melbourne Stars' Glenn Maxwell. Australia will have contingencies in place in case Ellis doesn’t recover in time for the T20 World Cup 2026.
Chief selector George Bailey was asked about whether there are injury concerns when he announced that Maxwell and Ellis have been rested for Pakistan tour.
"No, I hope not," he said. "They've got a busy, well, one of them is going to have a busy few days with hopefully two or three games in four or five days. So a busy back end to the tournament.
"I think like nearly every tournament that we head to, particularly when it's a really busy time of the year as this one is, it's very much working with individuals around making sure that they get the … best preparation they can to make sure that when they do join that World Cup squad, they're ready to perform."
In Ellis’ absence, Ben McDermott will lead Hobart Hurricanes. The team will also miss the services of leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed who has left the BBL for preparatory limited-overs series in Sri Lanka.
List of Australia’s injured players
Pat Cummins returned to play the third Ashes 2025-26 Test after months of injury layoff. Bailey has already confirmed that Cummins may miss the first two or three T20 World Cup 2026 group stage games.
Josh Hazlewood missed the entire Ashes whereas Tim David got injured during the BBL. Hazlewood and David are not part of the T20I series against Pakistan. They are expected to recover in time for the T20 World Cup 2026.
Australia's squad for 2026 T20 World Cup
Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Cameron Green, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Matthew Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Short, Marcus Stoinis, Adam Zampa.