Star Brisbane Heat paceman Spencer Johnson has opened up about his mystery toe injury, saying it's even left multiple doctors and surgeons perplexed.
Johnson missed the first two games of the Big Bash season after snapping a tendon in his toe, but he returned in stunning fashion on Thursday night with career-best figures of 4-20 in Brisbane's 33-run loss to the Scorchers in Perth.
After the match, Johnson showed off the intricate strapping on his right foot that is helping to ease the pain on his troublesome middle toe.
It's an injury he will likely have to manage for the rest of the BBL campaign, and he has no idea when it will fully heal.
"I snapped my tendon in a Shield game about a month ago, and to be honest, we still don't really know how it's happened, or why it's happened," Johnson said.
"It's such a bizarre injury. Four surgeons have looked at it, four sports doctors have looked at it, and they're all mind blown.
"We've come up with a decent method to strap it, and hopefully that should be right for the rest of the season."
Johnson said he's not worrying too much about it despite the unknowns.
"It is such a bizarre thing, I could wake up tomorrow and it could be all right," he said.
"It felt really good out there today, and we're looking after it, we'll manage it. It feels a bit weird we're talking about a third toe.
"I missed a couple of games, but hopefully it will be all right."
Thursday's result improved the Scorchers' record to 2-2 for the season, keeping them in the thick of the finals hunt.
But the form of opener Finn Allen is a worry, with the New Zealand blaster dismissed for another duck.
It means Allen has returned scores of 0, 0, four and six this season, and it remains to be seen whether he'll be retained for Tuesday's clash with the Strikers in Adelaide.
"He's a match winner," fellow Scorchers power hitter Nick Hobson said of Allen.
"He strikes such a high strike-rate, and sometimes that can be paired with low scores.
"But he's got absolute backing, and he's a match winner, and next time he could get a fast 100.
"By the end of the tournament, you never know, he could be a leading run scorer. It's the nature of it. He's world class."
