Photo Credit: Brisbane Heat
Queensland and Australian batsman Matthew Renshaw will return home to play for the Brisbane Heat in the coming KFC Big Bash League.
Renshaw, 26, has been granted a release from the final year of his contract with the Adelaide Strikers after approaching the club to seek an early exit from his deal for family reasons.
Renshaw and his wife Josie are expecting their first child in December and sought to be with their families in Brisbane when the time came for the baby’s birth.
Once the Strikers had agreed to release the left-hander, the Heat offered him a three-year contract which he accepted this month while playing for Somerset in the English County competition.
Renshaw, who arrived back from the UK last night, expressed his thanks to Adelaide and the South Australian Cricket Association for their compassionate approach to his request.
“It was not an easy discussion to have by any means, and I have nothing but gratitude for the professional and considerate way Jason Gillespie and Tim Nielsen at the SACA went about making their decision when I approached them about a release,’’ he said.
“It’s a very exciting time for Josie and I, and we wanted to be able to share that with our families at home in Brisbane when the baby comes.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Strikers. I have a lot of good mates there and enjoyed the environment that the club provided for us.
“I wish them all the best for the coming season and take plenty of positives away from my time in Adelaide,” he said.
Renshaw played 24 matches for the Heat between 2017-18 and 2019-20 before switching to Adelaide for the next two seasons and returns to Brisbane with a burgeoning reputation as an all-round batsman.
His winter saw him play for Australia ‘A’ in red and white ball games on the tour of Sri Lanka and he was added to the Australia ODI squad during the Pakistan series when Ashton Agar was sidelined due to COVID.
He finished his County stint as captain of Somerset and produced several strong efforts with the bat during his northern summer, including centuries at first class and List A level.
He finished with 620 county runs at 48.37 and 271 runs at 38.71 in one-day cricket.
Renshaw has played 49 BBL games to date, scoring over 1000 runs between the Heat (549) and the Strikers (513).
Heat coach Wade Seccombe welcomed the chance to reunite the Bulls batsman with his Heat counterparts.
“We’re grateful for the understanding shown by the Strikers,’’ he said. “We’re all in a competitive environment but is very heartening to know we can put that aside and come together to help each other out.”
“We’re excited to welcome Matthew home. We’ve been delighted to see him develop and grow as a player and a person with Queensland and this opportunity to bring him into the Heat was ideal for all of us,’’ he said.
“He’s not far away from making a return to the national team in our opinion, and the fact he has produced good performances while filling a variety of roles for the teams he has played in shows he has the skills and the mental toughness to go much further with his cricket.”
“We’re confident that he can continue to flourish with the Heat and look forward to him being part of the group again. It’s exciting times as he starts a family, and we look forwarding to supporting he and Josie along the way.”
Brisbane head into Sunday’s inaugural KFC Big Bash League International player draft with the third pick and will join their rivals in looking to secure one of the leading Platinum level players in the first round.
Once the Heat has secured its three Internationals from the Draft, the club will have two spots left on its 18-man contract list for BBL|12.
Those spots are set to be filled once the KFC T20 Max competition has been concluded on Sunday 4 September.
The Final at Allan Border Field will coincide with the Brisbane Heat Fan Day.
Brisbane will also have the capacity to sign Local Replacement players in the event of injury or contracted players being required for national duty.
2022-23 Brisbane Heat Squad
BBL|12 Signings (to date)
Xavier Bartlett
James Bazley
Max Bryant
Sam Heazlett
Usman Khawaja (new)
Matt Kuhnemann
Marnus Labuschagne
Michael Neser
Jimmy Peirson
Matthew Renshaw (new)
Mark Steketee
Mitch Swepson
Jack Wildermuth
