Notts bowler Gurney frustrated by his Big Bash 'disaster' in Australia

Left-arm seamer Gurney had helped the Melbourne Renegades to the Big Bash title in 2018.

But this time round, he played only four matches before he was sidelined by a hamstring injury, while Renegades failed to make it out of the group stages of the tournament.

Speaking at Trent Bridge after returning to England, the 33-year-old said: “Things did not go as we intended them to.

“We didn’t play as well as we can, and it was a bit of a disaster from start to finish.

“For the majority of my career, I have been relatively injury-free, apart from one or two niggles. So to get a significant one like that was really disappointing. It reminded me how frustrating an injury can be.”

One small consolation for Gurney was that, in one of the Big Bash matches he did play, he bagged the wicket of Notts teammate Alex Hales.

“I got a bit a lucky because it was a slot ball that he hit down the throat of deep mid-wicket,” Gurney said. “But it was nice. I’d certainly rather get him out than get smacked by him because he can be so destructive.”

He was full of praise too for another Notts ally, Samit Patel, who took his place in the Renegades side, describing him as one of the county’s best-ever players .

Gurney is fit again now and looking forward to playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), which starts on March 23.