LET THE COMEBACK COMMENCE

The time is here, my rehab and training has been going so well that I’m ready to make a comeback to international cricket earlier than I originally thought.

I’ll be joining the England Lions for three one-day matches in Mumbai, and I’m looking forward to some competitive action again. I joined the Lions for some practice but I feel ready for a match.

I’ll be playing as a batsman and fielder and I think I’ll be batting at No 5 but I won’t be bowling. In fact, I haven’t bowled a ball yet since the operation. I’m still taking things steadily on that score.

I probably won’t start bowling until next month after I get home and continue working in the indoor school at Old Trafford. Then Lancashire are due to play four or five matches on our pre-season tour in Dubai, and I’d hope maybe to bowl in some of those games.

My time with the Lions has been brilliant. It’s great to be around a cricket team again and they are a terrific bunch of lads. People shouldn’t expect too much from me in terms of scoring lots of runs, although it would be nice so watch this space.



EXTENDED REHAB

So the lads have started well in New Zealand, and I’m also doing well with my rehabilitation programme. I’m not coming out with any big statements about when I’ll be playing for England again but, fingers crossed, I’ll be OK for the summer.

I’m not going to rush it this time around though – the last few times I’ve tried to come back to soon and it hasn’t worked so at the moment I’m taking things steadily.

The good thing about my rehab this time is I don’t feel I’m working to a deadline. But I must admit after all the training I’ve done I really want to get out and play cricket again.

It has been good to have some time to myself too though. I spent six weeks in America before Christmas with trainer Dave Roberts which was great – there were no distractions, the weather was great, nobody knew me and I was able to take my family as well.

Three or four hours’ training over there was worth six hours at home and we worked really hard. The same thing happened at Cape Town where I spent 10 days in January so I’m coming on well.

I’ve had a few batting sessions at Old Trafford against the bowling machine and I’m gradually building up that side of things. All these ops have been tough and very frustrating and I guess I could have bowled at 75mph and got through, but that’s not me. I want to get up to 90mph again and be a proper all-rounder. That’s why I had the operation.

Lancashire is taking a team of young lads to India later this month so I’ll join them on that, and then head out to Dubai with them for the pre-season tour in March.

Obviously, I’d rather be in New Zealand with the lads than at home going through another bout of rehab but I’ve just got to be patient. I’ll be following England’s progress closely though and I wish the whole team the best of luck.




CONFIDENCE IS EVERYTHING

Word travels fast so I'm sure you're aware by now that I've been in Holland having surgery on my ankle.  Nick Pierce, the England doctor, and my fitness trainer, Dave Roberts, explored every avenue, including America.  We also consulted the surgeons who performed the previous operations.  The concensus was that Professor Van Dijk was the best man for the job.  He is regarded worldwide as the leading man in his field.
 
I'm absolutely confident that I can get back to playing for Lancashire and England again to the level I have in the past.  I'm very positive about things at the moment. 
 
Professor Van Dijk went into the joint and found things wrong.  He removed some bone fragments that were deeply embedded and also did some work on the tendon.  He is more than happy with what he's done and is confident that he's got to the bottom of the problem. 
 
Coming back will be hard work but I've been through lots of rehab programmes so I know what is involved.  And no, I can't predict when I'll play again -- all I'm thinking about is getting off my crutches, which will hopefully be in a few days' time.
 
We have a lot of time so the ankle can heal naturally.  Time is one thing that's on our side so there's no need to rush things.
 
Some people say I came back too quickly in the past and now some people reckon I'm finished.  Ultimately a lot of people say a lot of things, but I'm not bothered.  All I care about is getting 100% fit again so I can play for Lancashire and England at the level I have in the past. 
 
My motivation is not proving people wrong.  My motivation is to play cricket. 
 
I watched a bit of England's 3-2 win in the one-day series in Sri Lanka.  It was a brilliant performance.
 
I also had a day on the couch on Saturday watching the rugby.  I saw the Super League Grand Final and then England's win in Paris.  One more big effort and they can do it against South Africa.

REMAINING OPTIMISTIC

I would be lying if I said I don’t have concerns about being able to bowl like I could before.  I really thought the third ankle operation I had earlier in the summer would solve the problem.  I worked incredibly hard at my rehab, did everything I would to get back to playing.  But obviously something is not right.

The thing is, I followed the plans laid down by the experts and was out for three months.  I did all the work I needed to and I don’t think I came back too quickly.  Nobody can say I haven’t done the rehab after all three operations; I couldn’t have done more.

I admit I’m a bit concerned but I have to remain optimistic.  Together with my fitness trainer Dave Roberts and the England medics I’ll come up with a plan so that I can get myself right as soon as possible.
 
I know I need to bowl 10 overs in one-day cricket and then maybe 20 overs for two days running in Test cricket.  But I don’t know if that is going to be possible.  I want to play a full part for England.  That’s the reason I had the most recent operation – so I could bowl at full pace and do what I do best.

The scans are showing no difference structurally to the ankle since the operation.  Now, I’m no expert but I have to go with the symptoms…I’m having pain and my ankle is sore.  But there’s nothing I can do apart from see the medical people again and find out where we’re at with the ankle.  We need to work out a long-term plan because it’s obviously not right.

I made it through in South Africa because it’s only four overs in Twenty20 cricket.  I bowled all right but really it was a lottery, with batsmen coming at you playing a lot of big shots.  I got away with it some of the time.

In general, though, we underperformed but on the whole the World Twenty20 has been a success.  It could change the way one-dayers are played because teams have shown they can chase 10 or 12 runs an over without batting an eyelid.  And Collingwood did well as a captain.  It was a tough baptism for him in his first overseas trip in charge, but I’m sure he’ll learn a heck of a lot from the tournament.

DAYTIME TV & SWIMMING 

In the first five days after my ankle operation I was house bound, sitting on my couch and watching daytime TV – something I don’t normally do.  I watched Cash in the Attic on which there was a family who lived just outside Cirencester.  They wanted an £800 dream holiday, but they didn’t have enough cash in their attic, so they had to settle with a trip to Butlins, which they thoroughly enjoyed. 

It was nice to spend extra time with my family and I also had some mates who came round to the house to see me.  Both my family and friends helped to alleviate my considerable boredom and it’s always nice to catch up with people.

I’m sure there are a lot of people wondering whether or not I went to the Test.  I went everyday apart from Saturday and had a chat with the coach, captain and physio.  I went to the dressing room and saw the lads and caught up with friends in the hospitality boxes and had a great time.  It was a really good game of cricket on a very good surface, congrats to Pete Moore and his staff.

It was also great to see my mate Harmy coming back to something like his best form in the second innings; let’s hope we can make it 3-0 this week. 

I’ve just come off the crutches, so my rehab programme will start over the next few weeks and will be aimed at building myself up to running.  I will start swimming this week and then cycling in three weeks time.  I need to build up my muscles that have wasted in my left leg whilst I have been on crutches.

I will also be doing some charity work during my rehab programme, with a UNICEF dinner at Lord’s where I will be doing a Q & A with Warney and KP.  I am sure that will be a lively debate!



THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY

As summer approaches, I have to focus myself on getting back to form.  I am a cricketer and want to get back to playing cricket well. 

I'm only 29 and have had a great career so far; for 3 years I had it all my own way which was great.  But, as I've learned recently, it can't always go like that.  It's definitely been a tough 18 months.  My benefit year, ankle injury and other distractions have not done me any favors on the field.  I just want to get back to playing well and I'm not going to take anything else on away from cricket.

If you look at the players from around the world they all have dips in form and that's what I'm experiencing.  I have to get out of it and now I have the perfect opportunity to do so at Lancashire in the next few weeks.

I've been in the nets at Old Trafford working with the coach again, batting against the lads.  With any luck I'm just one knock away from scoring some consistent runs.  No matter how I bowl, though, if I don't get runs, it's not a good feeling.  I'm in the process of getting back to basics and reminding myself what I did when I was playing well and the areas in which I scored.

There has been a lot of talk about my workload in Australia and I have to say that I enjoyed being captain.  It was hard, five Test matches against a veteran Australian side while we were a young, inexperienced side.  It was tough, but I was proud to do the job. 

Now, though, I'm not thinking about the captaincy.  I'm looking to the future, concentrating on my own game and I'm keen to perform for Lancashire and next week's County Championship against Hampshire.  I don't get many chances to play for them and when I do I probably put too much pressure on myself to perform well.  It's difficult popping in for some games here and there and I try to do too much because I know I'm not going to be around for a while.