Tassie-bound Stanlake still chasing Test dream

Billy Stanlake hasn't had much to smile about over the past year.

Four overs into his County Championship debut in last May, the 204cm quick suffered his latest injury setback, which have been a constant theme of his six-year professional career.

That back stress fracture ruled Stanlake out of the remainder of what was to be a full season with Derbyshire, and he hasn't played in the 355 days since after reaggravating the injury in January during rehab while bowling at 50 per cent.

Just six weeks ago the 27-year-old from the Gold Coast was told by his specialist that the fracture still hadn't repaired, so naturally when he went for more scans this week he wasn't holding out much hope for a good result.

That's why when the radiologist said the fracture was "pretty much fully healed", Stanlake’s first comment was "you're taking the piss, aren't you?".

Then, on Thursday, in a further sign his luck may be starting to turn, Stanlake inked a two-year deal with Tasmania as the man Ricky Ponting once declared had the potential to be "one of the all-time great fast bowlers" targets a fresh start south of the mainland.

"I don't really know how it's turned around that quickly or what's happened, but it was nice just to have some good news for once," Stanlake told cricket.com.au today.

"It was a tough call, Brisbane and Queensland is my home, it's where I've always been but I'm also very excited for a fresh start and new opportunity."

Image Id: EF3A7018085242D28FD42632CCD1BB22 Image Caption: Stanlake bowls for Derbyshire during his county debut // Getty

Having produced a number of fast bowlers over recent years with Riley Meredith, Nathan Ellis, Tom Rogers and Gabe Bell breaking on to the scene to join experienced heads of Peter Siddle and Jackson Bird – along with friendly swing conditions at Blundstone Arena – Stanlake’s move appears shrewd.

The right-armer hopes swapping sunny Queensland for Hobart's cooler climate will give him the best opportunity for a sustained run at red-ball cricket and add to his nine first-class games as he chases his Test dream to add to the 26 international caps he has earnt in limited-overs cricket.

"The main priority is getting down there, getting my body right and then getting back on the field," Stanlake said.

"It's been a long and frustrating 12 months. To do all the work to get back to the point where I was getting close to 100 per cent bowling again in January, for it then to re-fracture was pretty bloody disappointing after all the effort going in over the past eight months or so.

"I was back to about a half run(-up) and starting to increase the intensity a bit, so I was probably maybe a month away from getting back to (bowling) full tilt.

"That was the most disappointing thing, I was so close, and then for it to go, I wasn't expecting it to be a fracture again either because we hadn't really pushed that hard yet, bowling wise.

"(In March) the fracture was pretty much the same as it was when we picked it up six weeks prior to that scan (in January), so it hadn't really changed at all.

"I went for an injection a couple of days ago and the CT (scan) showed up that the fracture has pretty much fully healed, which is a miraculous turnaround from where it was six weeks ago.

"When the bloke told me … I thought he was bloody joking with me as it was the last thing I was expecting."

After suffering back-to-back back stress fractures as an 18 and 19-year-old – along with similar injuries in his pelvis and feet among other medium-term setbacks such as a broken pinky finger and an infected toe – the re-fracture in January was the tipping point for Stanlake to get to the bottom of his back issues.

He went to see world-renowned Gold Coast spinal surgeon Matthew Scott-Young, who was one of the consultants behind Tiger Woods' incredible comeback from his Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion in 2017.

"Once it re-fractured, I was obviously pretty angry and frustrated about everything and I just wanted to do everything I could to find some answers and solutions of what was going on and why and things I could do differently going forward," Stanlake said.

Image Id: 8550AB8AF2734761A0CE6039A163BBFC Image Caption: Stanlake has represented Australia 26 times in white-ball cricket // Getty

"So, I went and saw him and we got a little bit of clarity about what was going on and changed my rehab a little bit after seeing him.

"To now have had a really good result a couple of days ago on the scan, I couldn't be happier with how it's turned out over the last four to five weeks."

Stanlake hopes an epidural injection in his back will help clear up a potential disc issue that's been plaguing his rehab so that when he lands in Hobart in mid-June they can get straight into planning his next comeback.

"It's hard to put a timeline on things at the moment and I'm not sure if what's happened in the last couple of days has changed things or not," he said.

"Last year took a lot longer than what we expected so it's hard to tell but I think that's probably something we'll discuss further once I get down there.

"I just want to be playing cricket at the end of the day and when you can't do it, you pretty soon realise how much you miss it.

"Something I do pretty well is I get over (the initial injury) pretty quickly within a couple of days and I just want to get straight back into rehab to get things moving.

"I treat it as a day-to-day process, I've always thought another week down, another week closer to getting better, that's the way I've tried to look at it and I think that's definitely helped keep me motivated and fresh going through a pretty long rehab.

"I haven't played much red-ball cricket at all and it's still something I have a desire to do and try and chase Test cricket, that's still a massive thing that I want to do."

To achieve that, and his return for the Melbourne Stars in next summer's KFC BBL, Stanlake hopes a renewed focus on his leg strength – which played a part in his latest bout of stress fractures – and a greater understanding of his action will help get him back on the park and keep him there.

"Over the last few years working with 'Bich' (Andy Bichel), we've probably worked out what my action needs to be consistent and to be successful," he says.

"It's more about making sure I'm physically strong and in good nick, that's something I struggled with prior to the injury after all the quarantines and bubbles that I went through that I was probably just struggling a little bit physically, which probably got into some pretty average positions with my bowing."