Callum Ferguson ruled out of the Australian summer after knee injury

Promising Aussie batsman has been ruled out of the entire Australian summer

Callum Ferguson’s tryst with injuries continues to hinder his progress as the 31-year-old suffered from another torn ACL, and is out of contention to play this Australian summer. He sustained his latest injury in a practice match for Melbourne Renegades, on the eve of the KFC Big Bash League 2015.

What looked like a pretty nonchalant fielding mishap turned out to be a season-ending injury after scans were done, which is a massive blow to the Renegades as well as the West End Redbacks, Ferguson’s Sheffield Shield side.

Whether the batsman will undergo a full knee reconstruction or not depends on how his consultation with specialists in Adelaide goes.

Tim Nielsen, the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) General Manager, said that it was a disheartening setback for Ferguson, who’s had a terrific domestic season across all formats.

The 31-year-old averaged 46.85 in the Matador Cup and 53.11 in the Sheffield Shield, where he also recorded his highest ever first-class total of 213 against Tasmania.

"We're just so incredibly disappointed and really feel for Callum right now, but he's still got plenty of cricket ahead of him and we look forward to helping him back to full fitness," Nielsen said. "He's an important part of our Redbacks squad - our main concern right now is that he gets the treatment and rehabilitation he needs."

Renegades captain, Aaron Finch said: “He’s a great man and such a good player that if it is bad news it will be his third or fourth knee (reconstruction). It's disappointing news and shocking for Callum. All we can do is hope for the best on the scan this morning."

Since the beginning of his career, Ferguson has had problems with his knee. In 2004, just before the U-19 World Cup, and in 2009, during the Champions Trophy, he suffered injuries to that part of the body, which have significantly curtailed a flourishing career.

He made his debut for Australia in 2009 and averages 41.43 from 30 ODIs, but hasn’t played an ODI since 2011 despite being in terrific form for the Redbacks over several seasons. He averaged 52 with four hundreds last summer, before backing that up with 478 runs this year at 53 in the Sheffield Shield.

Renegades coach David Saker said that a reshuffling of the batting order was on the cards. “It has put a bit of a dent in the way we're planning,” Saker said.

"We have enough batters in that group who can probably cover it. The problem might occur when we lose some of our Australian players. That might become an issue. At the moment I think we can cover it. It's more just a shame for Callum himself because he's in fantastic form.

"He was batting really well for us in the trial games. He would have been a really important player for us. Hopefully the scans are okay but it's not looking great at the moment."

While the loss of Ferguson has dented a massive hole in their reserves, the arrival of Caribbean stalwarts namely Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, have to some extent, made up for it. Gayle returns to the BBL after two years, while Bravo had a short burst with the Renegades last summer as well.

Saker, who was happy to have them in their dugout, said: “Dwayne is a proven bowler at T20 cricket, he's probably one of the best T20 bowlers in the world. So he can play a lot of different roles with the ball and he's also very destructive with the bat”.