Jhye clears first hurdle after 'not feeling like a cricketer'

Jhye Richardson admits there were times during his year-long injury lay-off he had to consciously remind himself he was still a professional cricketer.

Richardson returned to the playing field for Western Australia in yesterday's Marsh One-Day Cup triumph over Victoria, having forfeited his chance of taking part in the Indian Premier League, the recent Ashes campaign and the current World Cup by undergoing surgery on his left hamstring at the end of last summer.

It's the second time in as many international cycles he's been sidelined for the Ashes-World Cup double after suffering a shoulder injury shortly before those events kicked off in the UK in 2019.

But while the shoulder mishap and subsequent heel and shin problems forced him off the park in recent seasons, the protracted nature of the rehabilitation after opting for surgery to fix recurring injuries to his hamstring left the 27-year-old feeling disconnected from the game like never before.

"With extensive injuries, your mind obviously goes through a few challenges being in rehab for so long," Richardson told cricket.com.au prior to his comeback match in which he claimed 2-36 from five overs in WA's thumping win.

"Having surgery on my hamstring to try and fix that issue meant being in rehab for so long, you don't forget that you're a cricketer but you don't always feel like a cricketer because you're not playing and you're not necessarily training for cricket. 

"You're training to rehabilitate an injury. 

"It can get really, really frustrating at times when you're inside having to do a really gruelling crappy session with no one around you, and everyone is outside playing cricket.

"So that's been a struggle, and because this has been such a slow process as well, purposefully slow, mind you, I haven't really felt like a cricketer for a little while."

Bowling fast is a notoriously precarious pastime given the unnatural stresses and strains it places on the human body.

It can be especially gruelling on young players who are exposed to the intensity of international cricket at an early age, as shown by current Australia's current Test and ODI captain Pat Cummins who lost six years of his career to injuries in the immediate aftermath of his international debut.

Richardson was just 20 when he earned his maiden Australia cap in a T20 international against Sri Lanka at Geelong in early 2017, before debuting in ODI cricket a year later and becoming a Test player a further 12 months down the track in January 2019.

But since taking the new ball ahead of Cummins in his inaugural Test outing, Richardson has played just three of a possible 40 Tests and 19 of a potential 128 limited-overs matches for Australia due largely to injury absences.

Furthermore, the hamstring injuries cost him a lucrative stint in this year's IPL having been bought for around $A270,000 by Mumbai Indians.

As Cummins learned during his extended absence from cricket due to foot and back stress fractures, the key to continue pushing through recovery programs when the end result appears frustratingly distant is to be surrounded by a strong support network of family and fitness professionals.

"It's always difficult when you see guys having time off and going on holidays, and you're stuck on the exercise bike or stuck in the gym, working your butt off to try and get back," Richardson said.

"It can be really frustrating, but the people around you keep you grounded and help you understand there's a bigger picture. 

"With these sorts of things, you can get stuck in catastrophising and thinking of the worst-case scenario.

"A lot for me was around whether or not I was going to get back to playing cricket, because it has been such a long process and you won't know (how successful it's been) until you start playing again. 

"So it's just trusting what people say around you, and knowing that it's going to suck at the time but it will be worth it in the long run."

In the 12 months prior to yesterday's comeback game, Richardson had played just two Marsh Sheffield matches and two domestic one-dayers (including a warm-up game between a WA XI and India), as well as well as seven KFC BBL appearances for Perth Scorchers.

His most recent appearances in Australia colours came during the men's team's white-ball tour to Sri Lanka in June last year, and it's almost two years since the last of his three Tests to date in the second match of the 2021-22 Ashes series in Adelaide.

But in those Tests, the right-armer's ability to swing the ball at pace netted him 11 wickets at an average of just over 22 runs apiece and it's likely he would have been in the frame for both the Ashes defence and World Cup quest this year had he been fit and available.

The benefits offered by bowlers able to consistently reach speeds of 145kph or above and/or generate swing were graphically exhibited by England pair Mark Wood and Chris Woakes during the back half of this year's Ashes series.

However, now that he's completed his lengthy recovery and resumed his guise as a full-time cricketer, Richardson understands there are no guarantees he'll resume his place in Australia's pace bowling pecking order as generational change of the international attack looms.

"The drive is still there, and the passion still there to play cricket for Australia," he said.

"I have my goals with this season, getting past rehab and returning to play and stuff like that, but there's actually a bigger picture.

"Getting back to just playing, starting back in Shield cricket and one-day cricket for WA. 

"That's as rewarding, I guess you could say, as playing cricket for Australia when you're fit and going because it's been such a long time off.

"Playing cricket for your state is still really rewarding because you know that you can get back to that level of cricket, and then obviously once you're up and running your goals can change to then play for Australia. 

"But it's unrealistic to say 'oh, well, I haven't played for six months so I'll go straight into the Australian team'.

"The reward for me is going to be playing for WA."

That now stands as another milestone Richardson has ticked off along the lengthy road to recovery.