Abbott becomes first injury sub in Sheffield Shield history as he was subbed out because of a split webbing.
Abbott first to be subbed out under new Sheffield Shield injury rule.
On the first day against Victoria at the Junction Oval in Melbourne, Sean Abbott, a seamer for New South Wales, split the webbing in his right hand while fielding a ball off his own bowling, making him the first player to be substituted out of a Sheffield Shield match for an injury other than a concussion under Cricket Australia’s new trial rule.
Under the new regulation, which is being tested during the first five rounds of the 2025–26 Sheffield Shield competition, Charlie Stobo was substituted in as the first-ever injury replacement player.
In the 43rd over of the first day, Abbott, who is one of the players who might be included in Australia’s enlarged Ashes squad if Pat Cummins is sidelined for the first part of the series, fractured the webbing in his right hand while halting a firmly delivered straight drive from Victoria batsman Peter Handscomb.
Abbott left the pitch right away, and Ryan Hadley, a teammate, finished the over. New South Wales requested that Abbott be changed by another bowler after being evaluated in the rooms, and the match referee promptly approved their request.
After warming up during the intermission, Stobo bowled his first over of the match right after tea.
Handscomb is not a fan of the new rule which CA hope will provide insights for the ICC who are considering subs for international cricket.
“Not really,” he said after play on Wednesday. “I think first-class cricket and Test cricket is a game of attrition. And if you pick a team and then you can just sub a bloke out halfway through, it takes that factor away.
“This is a bloody hard game for four days, and you’ve got to keep backing up and fronting up and doing everything. So I’m all aboard the concussion sub. I think that’s a really good rule. But injuries are part of the game. I think unfortunately, you just kind of have to deal with them and they haven’t.”