Munro touch and go for Heat opener, Johnson and Neser missing

Brisbane Heat's stand-in skipper and marquee overseas signing Colin Munro is touch and go for the defending champions' season opener against Melbourne Stars while Spencer Johnson is unlikely to play before Christmas and Michael Neser will remain on the sidelines until January.

Heat released their 14-man squad for their opening BBL match at the MCG on Wednesday night with Munro named to captain under new coach Johan Botha while permanent skipper Usman Khawaja is away on Test duty.

But Munro reported tightness in his hamstring at training on Tuesday afternoon and a decision will be made on game day as to whether he takes his place. If he is not passed fit, Queensland vice-captain Mitchell Swepson is likely to lead the team with last summer's title-winning stand-in captain Nathan McSweeney also on Test duty.

Meanwhile, Heat are likely to be without their star fast bowler Johnson for at least the first two games due to a toe injury he sustained in his Sheffield Shield return for South Australia in late November. Johnson bowled a career-high 45 overs in his first Shield game in seven months but has suffered extended toe soreness in the weeks after the game. He missed South Australia's next Shield game and is understood to have needed a cortisone injection since arriving in Brisbane for the BBL to see if the issue can settle. There is a hope he can begin bowling again this week with a possibility of playing in Heat's Boxing Day clash in Perth.

Neser is set to be unavailable until at least January due to the severe hamstring tendon injury he suffered while playing for Australia A on November 7. It was initially hoped he would be fit for the start of the BBL but the nature of the injury has meant his recovery has been much slower. Heat have a home game on January 6, which might be a possibility if everything went to plan, and then three games on January 11, 16 and 18 before the finals. But it is understood there will be no risks taken with Neser due to the risk of ending his summer if he reinjured the hamstring tendon.

Those three games on January 11, 16 and 18 will be the only three games Khawaja, McSweeney and Marnus Labuschagne will be available for following the Test series against India and then all three could be taken to Sri Lanka for the two-Test tour that starts on January 29, with Australia's players set to depart ten days out for a training camp in the UAE. Heat's two spinners, Swepson and Matthew Kuhnemann, are also a chance to go on that tour which would completely decimate their squad.

Heat have signed South Australia batter Daniel Drew and Queensland quick Tom Whitney as local replacement players and both have been named in the 14-man squad to face Stars at the MCG.