Joel Paris appears set to be fit for the Perth Scorchers’ season opener against the Adelaide Strikers on Friday week with the fast bowler saying he’s feeling really good after his return.
Paris bowled three overs for the Australian Legends XI against the Perth Scorchers in Tuesday’s Festival of Cricket match, marking his return to action after a quad injury sidelined him for two months.
The Scorchers will be without quicks Jason Behrendorff (3-5 weeks) and Nathan Coulter-Nile (indefinite) for the Strikers clash on Friday 23 December at #TheFurnace.
Andrew Tye is also facing a race against time with a shoulder complaint, but Paris’ recovery is positive news.
“I’m obviously really confident in the body at the moment,” Paris said.
“Yesterday was really good to get out and back on the field and get the feel for playing games again.
“Definitely tomorrow and the next couple of practice games I’ll be looking to hone my skills a little bit more and make sure if selected I’m ready to go on the 23rd.”
Thumbs up from @Joelyp92 👍 "I'm really confident in my body at the moment."
Full story at https://t.co/iH91BcHIa2 #MADETOUGH pic.twitter.com/2lQFf5BOIv
%E2%80%94 Perth Scorchers (@ScorchersBBL) December 14, 2016
Paris wasn’t asked to play back-to-back in Wednesday’s intra-squad T20 practice match at #TheFurnace but will have another run in Thursday game.
“I pulled up pretty well,” Paris said. “Just the usual general soreness but the quad was really good.”
The 24-year-old finished with figures of 0-29 from his three overs and admitted he initially felt a bit rusty.
“The first over was a little bit rusty. Everything was a little bit out of whack,” he said.
“As it went along, it got a lot better. It felt pretty good in my second over and by the end of my third I felt like I was back.”
Paris’ Premier Cricket club Claremont-Nedlands are due to play two T20 matches on Sunday, where he’s likely to play at least one game.