Head coach of BBL team Hobart Hurricanes Gary Kirsten suffered a cracked jaw after he was hit by batsman D’Arcy Short during practice on Saturday.

Hurricanes’ 27-year-old batsman Short is currently the highest run scorer in the Big Bash League (BBL) with a tally of 465 runs in seven matches, striking at a rate of 153.46. 

The Hurricanes skipper George Bailey explained the incident to cricket.com.au.

“It was wet, so we were in the indoor center. Darce just whacked one back at him [Kirsten] that he didn’t pick up in time,” Bailey said.

“He is hitting the ball pretty cleanly and hard at the moment. It was a bit messy. [Kirsten] has actually come out of it very luckily in the big scheme of things. He said that he’s probably been a bit blase about that over the years. Everyone has had [helmets] on since,” he further added. The good news for Kirsten was that he didn’t require surgery.

Bailey also praised Short and his clean hitting. 

“The really pleasing thing - his ball striking has always been phenomenal, it was last year as well - but now you can really see the structure he’s putting into his innings. He’s just hitting the ball where it needs to go, that’s the most pleasing thing from our end. It’s phenomenal to see. No doubt he’s going to be wearing some Australian colours soon in at least one format, but most probably two I reckon. I’m sure they’ll be looking hard at him. He’s a no-brainer for the T20s, isn’t he?” said Bailey.