Gary Kirsten suffered a cracked jaw and required immediate dental treatment to fix multiple broken teeth after being hit by a return shot from Hobbart Hurricanes batsman D’Arcy Short on Saturday.
Kirsten, who is the head coach of BBL franchise Hobart Hurricanes, was rushed to the hospital following a mishap that took place during a training session. The former South African cricketer and coach was giving throw downs to Short in the indoor nets at Blundstone Arena when the left hander could not control his bat flow and hit one straight back at the head coach.
"It was wet, so we were in the indoor centre. Darce just whacked one back at him that he didn't pick up in time," Hurricanes skipper George Bailey told cricket.com.au about the incident.
"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,”
Kirsten was also the head coach of India when they won the ODI World Cup after 28 years. Currently, he has been appointed the head coach of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.
D’Arcy Short, on the other hand is the highest run scorer of the BBL and continued his form with the bat by leading his side to another victory. He has currently scored 465 runs from seven innings – the highest by any batsman in one BBL season.