Jhye fights off nerves to reap rewards of run-up experiment

Such has been Jhye Richardson's battles with injury that the Perth Scorchers speedster could be forgiven for having a few nerves as he steeled himself for his first Big Bash delivery in almost a year.

A third left hamstring injury in 12 months last March had resulted in another winter of "tedious" rehab for the 27-year-old speedster, after West Australian medicos collaborated with their AFL counterparts to determine that surgery was likely to be the only option to fix his troublesome tendon.

But for a fleeting moment as he held the new white Kookaburra in his hand ready to kick off their clash with the Melbourne Stars at the MCG last Wednesday, Richardson thought he might have to run off the field to compose himself.

And while it wouldn't have been the first ball he'd bowled in a match this season, the atmosphere of the MCG crowd and his assessment of the Big Bash as the "most fun you can have playing cricket" meant it would be one of the more important hurdles in his comeback post-surgery.

"It's probably the most nervous that I've been ever before a cricket game," Richardson revealed to cricket.com.au post-match.

"I was very nervous just not having done it for a while.

"Obviously, there's thoughts that go through your head when you're in rehab, whether or not you can still do what you go out there to strive to do.

"I've got so much behind me now with injuries, it certainly does start to hit you deep down whether or not you can get back to your best.

"I know there was a little (consultation) with Essendon knowing that football (as an industry) goes through this particular injury a lot more than cricket does … and it landed at surgery.

"Shoulder wise I've been through surgery before and not had the best results, so it was pretty nerve-wracking time but now to be out there again, makes it all worth it.

"And once the first ball was bowled, I was all good and I had some fun out there."

It didn't take long for the fun to start for Richardson and the Scorchers.

If anyone needed reminding of the right-armer's prowess with ball in hand – a skill that has earnt him three Test caps for Australia and had him as the KFC BBL's second-leading wicket-taker last season until hurting his hamstring on January 4 – they got a quick refresher third ball when he dismissed Sam Harper with a beautiful away-swinger that he nicked through to 'keeper Josh Inglis.

It kickstarted another dismal batting display from the Stars, with Richardson adding a second scalp in his third over to help sink Melbourne to 101 all out, even less than the 111 they managed in their first match of BBL|13.

Though adding to those three Test caps, along with 33 appearances across ODIs and T20Is, is not Richardson's immediate priority, George Bailey and his national selection panel have made no secret that more opportunities await in future after seeing him claim five wickets (4-36 & 1-27) in his Marsh Sheffield Shield return earlier this month.

"It's unfortunate the run of injuries that he's had over the past couple of years, but the one thing he has done every time he's come back is impacted (the game) straight away," said Bailey prior to the first Test.

"He's one that I reference when talking about guys who have been around the Test squad in the past – that includes Scott (Boland), Lance (Morris), Jhye and Michael Neser – they've all had opportunities (and) we're excited about the opportunities they may get in the future."

But having previously revealed the protracted recovery post-hamstring surgery left him at times not feeling like a cricketer, Richardson's main focus right now is to play as much as he can and have fun doing it.

"It's so cliche to say but the most important part about playing cricket is enjoying it; if you're not enjoying it, it makes it difficult," he said.

"When you have a long-term rehabilitation process, I think the hardest part is getting through the early stages because there's not really that light at the end of the tunnel yet for you.

"It's very monotonous, it's tedious and you don't often feel like you are training to be a cricketer, (instead) you're training to rehab an injury.

"It's only when you start to get cricket specific at the end when you start bowling and batting and introducing the cricket specific skills that you do see the light at the end of the tunnel and that's when the motivation comes back to play.

"The plan for me is just to play Big Bash cricket, play well, and there is not much more to it.

"Go out there, see what I can do, put some skills on display and whatever happens after, happens.

"We (the selectors and I) have frequent conversations. I know that if I play then hopefully things will happen and bonuses will happen after that; whether or not that's playing for Australia or playing good cricket, it doesn't really matter for me.

"Right at this moment it's about playing Big Bash cricket and performing well and having fun doing that."

As he prepares for his first match back at Perth Stadium (against Hobart Hurricanes on Wednesday) since the hamstring injury, Richardson is hopeful the educational approach he took to his latest stint on the sidelines will continue to pay dividends.

"It obviously got to a point where things weren't going my way, so I wanted to feel like I could have a learning process again," said Richardson.

"I wanted to learn about the game of cricket again, because I think for a little while I'd been left to my own devices, in a good way, knowing that I'm bowling well and doing things right."

That learning process involved a slight tweak to his run-up to help reduce the number of high-speed metres he completes each game.

While his run-up has remained around the same length, he now takes longer to build up to his cruising speed, therefore reaching his top velocity closer to his delivery stride.

"Previously I'd get to a cruising speed and stay at that for quite a long time," said Richardson.

"Whereas now … I hit my cruising speed a little bit later in my run-up and it just cuts out a few of those higher speed metres (and) means I'm doing less over the course of a game.

"It was just it was an experimental thing.

"It was like, 'Does this feel like it's going to be good?'

"I did actually want to go through a learning process again and figure out if there’s something that I can do that will help me long-term.

"I felt rusty at first but now it's proving to be a good thing. So it's just one of those things that I felt like I needed to do to become a better player.

"What we've seen from a pure GPS number – cutting down a specific amount of metres at a specific speed – hopefully, in the long run, especially in longer format cricket, will definitely help."

KFC BBL|13 standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Ties T	No results N/R	Net Run Rate NRR	Deductions Ded.	Total points PTS
1 Brisbane Heat Men HEA	10	7	1	0	2	0.972	0	16
2 Sydney Sixers Men SIX	10	6	2	0	2	0.339	0	14
3 Perth Scorchers Men SCO	10	6	3	0	1	0.725	0	13
4 Adelaide Strikers Men STR	10	5	4	0	1	0.331	0	11
5 Hobart Hurricanes Men HUR	10	4	6	0	0	-0.268	0	8
6 Melbourne Stars Men STA	10	4	6	0	0	-1.051	0	8
7 Melbourne Renegades Men REN	10	2	6	0	2	-0.288	0	6
8 Sydney Thunder Men THU	10	1	7	0	2	-0.652	0	4

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

T: Ties

N/R: No results

NRR: Net Run Rate

Ded.: Deductions

PTS: Total points

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