Perth Scorchers paceman Jason Behrendorff has refused to accept his selection for the Boxing Day clash against the Brisbane Heat at #TheFurnace as “guaranteed”, but flagged his determination to seize the opportunity if it was to arise.
Behrendorff missed Perth’s opening loss to the Adelaide Strikers on Monday due to lower back soreness sustained during the first block of Sheffield Shield.
However, the left-armer’s recovery has continued to progress well to the point where he is expected to be available for selection for the match against Brisbane.
Behrendorff’s inclusion would come as a relief for the Scorchers following the heartbreaking injury to Nathan Coulter-Nile in Game 1 and the absence of Test squad members Adam Voges and Shaun and Mitch Marsh.
The fast bowler refused to take his inclusion as guaranteed, but said a return to cricket in front of 20,000 fans at #TheFurnace had him brimming with excitement at the prospect.
“Not guaranteed yet, the selection meeting is going on at the moment, but personally I feel like I’m in a good place and my name should definitely be up there I think,” Behrendorff said.
“It still is a bit of a day-to-day process for me at the moment.
“That is a little bit frustrating, but at the end of the day, I’m so close to playing cricket again.
“That’s that little carrot for me, so I’m pretty excited.
“That little bit of extra time for me has probably been a blessing in disguise and the execution I was able to do in the nets today, I was really happy with that.”
Behrendorff last season took the KFC Big Bash League by storm as one of three Scorchers in the top five wicket-takers of the competition.
The 25-year-old’s 15 wickets at an average of just 16.73 had him sit second among the most productive bowlers and he flagged an intent to improve further on that performance.
“I feel like I’m almost back to where I was,” he said.
“That’s the thing, we talk about getting back to where I was, but it’s hopefully more about jumping over that and getting even better.
“So that’s the plan from here, to continue and go from there.”
The Scorchers will name their 13-man squad to play Brisbane by 11am AWST on Christmas Day.