Child suffering from brain cancer assists in 'bat flip' during BBL

A child suffering from brain cancer on Thursday assisted in 'bat flip' during the Big Bash League (BBL) match between Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes.

The 5-year-old Slater Walker is a huge Heat fan and was called to the stadium by the side's management as a guest of honour.

"Assisting with the bat flip tonight is 5yo Slater Walker. Unfortunately, Slater is suffering from brain cancer, but is a massive @HeatBBL fan and is the guest of honour at the Gabba tonight. Enjoy the match, Slater," BBL tweeted.

For the BBL, normal coin toss has been done away with and has been replaced by bat flip.

Instead of heads or tails, captains call 'hills' or 'roofs' and 'flats' to decide the course of play in the respective match.

The away team captain gets to make the call, and the only condition is, the bat must complete one full rotation before landing. It is something that has been seen in backyard cricket, but is a first at the professional level.

This was first tried during the 2018 edition of the BBL, and it has been followed since.

In the match between Brisbane and Hobart, the latter won the toss and opted to bat first.

Heat is currently placed at the fifth position in the standings while Hurricanes is in the seventh place.