Cleared out: Rib removal can't stop Piepa's persistence

Piepa Cleary doesn't like to stop. Not even having a rib removed could slow her down.

Such is the West Australian seamer's determination to keep going, she's endured two-and-a-half years of numbness and swelling in her bowling arm while splitting her time between Perth and England to play year round.

But at the end of last summer's Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) season the swelling became unbearable enough for the 26-year-old to finally set aside time to get it seen to.

Her condition – thoracic outlet syndrome – was caused by her nerves and blood vessels being compressed by her neck muscles, restricting blood flow to her arm during her bowling action.

Image Id: 7C826EA8A3FB47639BB15E053B0E5346 Image Caption: Cleary bowls with compression bandaging on her arm during last summer's WNCL // Getty

The solution was a procedure to remove the first of 12 ribs on her right side just below the collarbone to allow blood to flow unimpeded to her arm.

Even then, the surgery only kept her sidelined for two weeks before she was back training again.

"It sounds a bit dramatic," she tells cricket.com.au from Loughborough in the British East Midlands where she has lived for the past three Australian winters with her partner and England wicketkeeper Amy Jones.

"It was uncomfortable, but it never stopped me from playing."

She knows of one other person who has had the same operation; Cameron Bancroft's brother a few months before her and her doctor put the pair in touch to help give Cleary some peace of mind with the impending surgery.

"There's not many people that have had anything like this done, which is kind of why it took so long (for me) to get it done," she says.

"I was umming and ahing about it myself so to actually know of someone who had it done, and it actually helped, was good to know.

"The reason why I had the operation is because you're at high risk of blood clots if blood can't get back up … he (Bancroft's brother) actually got a blood clot, mine was more prevention."

Prior to the procedure, Cleary says her arm would eventually go "dead" from the numbness and her bicep would feel "incredibly tight", taking two to three days to settle down meaning that the back-to-back nature of the WNCL fixture (where each team would play two matches in three days against the one opposition) was never ideal.

"My arm was swelling from my elbow up to my shoulder pretty much every time I bowled," recalls Cleary.

"Every time my arm was up when I was bowling, the blood flow was getting cut off. My nerves would get really sore and sensitive, my arm would go dead, my bicep would get really, really tight and my arm would get really fat.

"I had a muscle in there that was really big, it looks like Popeye's bicep, that's how it got to.

Image Id: 40CD4428B2894F23BDC005274FFE5D9A Image Caption: Cleary celebrates the wicket of last season's top WNCL run-scorer Elyse Villani // Getty

"So they kind of just get rid of the rib and make more room essentially so the blood can flow down and up.

"Hopefully that fixes everything and I won't have any more issues."

However, despite the constant swelling and numbness, Cleary – who made her WA debut aged just 16 – has become the backbone of WA's attack, putting together a career-best WNCL season last summer.

It was also the second most prolific of her eight Big Bash seasons with 11 wickets, a run of form she credits to her time spent continuously playing in Australia and the UK.

"The first year I did, it was more just get out of Perth, get into a new environment and just see how the cricket goes," explains Cleary.

"And I loved it, so every time I've actually then gone back into our summer, I just feel really ready to go.

"I've never been someone that likes to stop for four months (until) preseason and then start getting into skills again, I'd rather just have a little break and then keep going.

"It takes me a while to kind of get going and get into the swing of things so I would prefer to not stop.

"Bowling all year round makes quite a big difference. Particularly the last two seasons, I've felt really consistent and that's something I've not had before."

Almost four months on from her rib removal surgery and Cleary returned to the field earlier this month when she made her debut as Leicestershire's maiden overseas women's player in the county 45-over competition, claiming 1-25 from nine overs in a seven-wicket win following her longest break between games in three years.

She's determined to keep playing back-to-back seasons as long as they'll keep having her back in the UK and the WACA allow her to go, and having just signed a two-year extension with WA, the state certainly sees the benefits for her game too.

"I'm playing a little bit less this summer just because of not wanting to have a body burnout, mental burnout when I get home," she says.

"I want to do it for as long as I can, I can't see myself doing a whole preseason in the cold in Perth so maybe that's motivation to just keep coming over and playing.

"I'll just see how I feel after each season if that's something that I want to do. It's going well at the moment so hopefully I can for another couple of seasons."

As she enters her 12th year of domestic cricket, the right-armer is now a leader in a young and talented WA squad, helping guide the state's next generation of fast bowlers towards emulating the success of their men's team.

"You can't not look at our men's program and be envious of what they have," says Cleary.

"So obviously that's a motivator, but we're definitely putting our own spin on it and do things we think is right for our group.

"We've really worked a lot on our culture in the last two seasons and we've kept that main group together now so the group of girls we have it's like a big family and everyone's genuinely buying into it.

"We had a little taste a couple of years ago when we won (WBBL|07 and the WNCL in 2019-20).

"Obviously, we've dropped a little bit since then with a new group but the goal is to be as successful as our men have been."