His last appearance came during the IPL 2025.
Australian seamer Spencer Johnson is set to miss the entire season of the BBL 2025-26 due to his persistent back injury. The 15th edition of the Big Bash League will kickstart on December 15.
The 29-year-old is yet to feature in a match since his last appearance in the Indian Premier League 2025 for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in early April. Notably, the franchise has released their INR 2.80 crore recruit ahead of the IPL 2026.
However, after tracking a stress fracture ahead of Australia’s five-T20I series in the West Indies, the player has gone through months of recovery process. His latest scan in October had also indicated a late return to BBL action in 2026. But the Brisbane Heat has recently revealed that Johnson would not be able to register a comeback during the span of BBL 2025-26 till January 25.
“Spencer continues to recover from a back injury, and pleasingly, this is improving. However, the latest time frame for his return to play does not enable him to participate in the BBL this season,” stated the Brisbane Heat’s CEO Terry Svenson.
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The bowler’s delayed recovery has also made his appearance in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2026 doubtful for the 2021 champions. With the team’s first fixture of the marquee 20-over event scheduled on February 11, Johnson is almost set not to make it to the Australia squad.
After veteran seamer Mitchell Starc’s retirement from the shortest format, Johnson was set to step into his shoes. But amidst his unavailability, the side has managed three victories out of their latest four T20I series with a pace bowling core of Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Ellis, Ben Dwarshuis and Xavier Bartlett.
Notably, Australia’s Test and ODI skipper Pat Cummins might also make a comeback for the forthcoming T20 World Cup after recovering from his lumbar stress injury.
However, the former KKR pacer is hopeful of getting fit before the next edition of the IPL. He has registered for the IPL 2026 auction at the second-highest base price of INR 1.50 crore.
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