How Jake Winter overcame a shocking hip injury to pile on the runs
Glenelg batsman Jake Winter’s A-grade debut ended with the then 17-year-old in hospital with a serious hip injury. Four years later he is stacking on the runs for the Seahorses.
It was supposed to be the stuff of dreams. Instead it turned into a nightmare.
When rising star Jake Winter cracked his first boundary through the covers in his first-grade debut for Glenelg against Woodville four years ago, the excruciating pain he felt rip through his right hip brought him to his knees.
“The pain was terrible, unbelievable,’’ Winter recalled.
“My back foot slipped as I played a cover drive, I felt a pop and then I collapsed to the ground.
“I couldn’t walk and a couple of my Glenelg teammates had to carry me from the ground.
“It wasn’t until the ambulance arrived and I was given a green whistle (pain relief inhaler) that the pain subsided.
“It certainly wasn’t the start to my A-grade career that I’d hoped for.’’
Forced to retire at six not out after opening the batting with then Seahorses captain Cullen Bailey, Winter, who at the time was just 17, did not play another game for four months.
After being rushed to the Adelaide Women’s and Children’s Hospital, scans showed that he had suffered a pelvic bone alvusion fracture, where a muscle and tendon had pulled away a piece of bone from the hip.
Winter avoided surgery when doctors decided — because of his young age — that it would be better to let his hip heal naturally.
But he faced a long rehabilitation program as he first rested and then waited for the fracture to heal.
It dented a career that had been on a steady climb after the classy right-hander had, at age 16 while representing SA, been named player of the Australian under-17 cricket championships in Adelaide and made the Australian under-19 team.
“I went from being on a big high to a low very quickly,’’ Winter said of a serious injury rarely sustained in cricket.
“I had just returned from being away in Sri Lanka with the Australian under-19 team and then I was out for months.’’
Winter returned just in time to play in the national under-19 championships but it took him time to regain top form.
He believes the injury setback cost him six-to-12 months of important development.
“I missed a lot of training and game development that probably put me behind a lot of other players that I had come through the system with,’’ Winter said.
“It took me a while to get my body right again and to regain my best form.
“I had a few niggly injuries along the way, such as glute soreness and patella tendinitis, because my body was compensating for the weaker muscles in my hip region.’’
Winter spent time in second-grade before rediscovering his mojo.
He was promoted to the Emerging Redbacks squad and played a first-class game for a Cricket Australia XI against Pakistan two years ago, making 39 and 0.
For the past two seasons he has held a Redbacks rookie contract.
Last season he was made captain of SA’s Futures League team, playing a key role in the Redbacks winning the national Second XI title.
But after a modest start to this campaign he missed selection in SA’s opening two Futures League matches.
The 21-year-old has responded to the disappointment by hitting back in a big way.
In Glenelg’s past two matches, Winter has reeled off the two highest scores of his career — 176 in a one-day fixture against Adelaide and 184 in a two-day match against Adelaide University.
His spectacular numbers make a compelling case for higher honours.
“Having got to three figures my mindset was to try to turn them into big hundreds,’’ said Winter, whose dad Roger played SANFL league football for West Adelaide.
“Once I got in I just kept telling myself to not let the opposition in and get myself out in a cheap way, to potentially give away a big score, which I have tended to do.
“My long-term goal is to play Sheffield Shield cricket but I know to do that you’ve got to knock the door down with runs, so it’s been really satisfying to go on with the job.’’
BEST WITH BAT
MEN
Jake Winter (Glen) 184
Jack Holliday (TTG) 110 no
Jake Brown (Kens) 108
Mark Cosgrove (ND) 102
John Dalton (Kens) 93
Peter Wilson (Uni) 90
WOMEN
Eliza Bartlett (Sturt) 60 no
Shae Daly (Kens) 43 no
Kylie Rattray (SD) 37 no
Hannah Armstrong (SD) 34 no
BEST WITH BALL
MEN
Ben Pengelley (Adel) 7/36
Harry Cunningham (Glen) 6/108
Sam Kerber (Uni) 5/73
Nick Benton (Port) 5/81
Will Daniel (Pros) 4/38
Ben Turley (Pros) 4/60
WOMEN
Ella Wilson (SD) 3/10
Chloe Frick (Kens) 3/13
Taylah Gregory (ND) 2/9
Bailey Vogt (Sturt) 2/10
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
BEN PENGELLEY
(Adelaide)
Buffalos all-rounder captured a career-best 7/36 with his left-arm fast-mediums to roll the strong Tea Tree Gully batting line-up for just 110 in his side’s 122-run win at Glandore.
CHAMPION PLAYER OF THE SEASON
Jake Brown (Kens) 671
Sam Kerber (Uni) 574
Tim Rouse (ND) 515
Jake Winter (Glen) 458
Michael Cranmer (ET) 407
Kelvin Smith (WT) 403
Ben Wakim (Uni) 402
Ben Pengelley (Adel) 393