Redbacks bowler Daniel Worrall reveals the unusual path he took to return from injury and get back to his best
Daniel Worrall’s unconventional decision to take charge of his rehabilitation from medicos paid dividends on Monday when he bowled South Australia to Sheffield Shield victory. He reveals more details about his remarkable return from injury.
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Six months moonlighting as a book shop assistant in Bristol followed by carefree backpacking proved the quirky secret to Daniel Worrall’s cricket renaissance.
Having had his zest for the game and Ashes dream zapped by multiple back stress fractures, Worrall pursued an unconventional and personalised path to recovery.
A matchwinning, five-wicket haul in Worrall’s first Sheffield Shield game for a year against Western Australia this week vindicated the swing bowler’s road less travelled.
“I spent six months in a book shop in England, did nothing and started rehab with a fresh mind,” Worrall said.
“I did a bit of travel and tried to stay away from cricket because it was doing my head in.”
Based in chic Clifton Village where indie boutiques, cafes and bars abound, Worrall found meaning showing up for work in an Oxfam shop.
It was a university town existence far removed from the bubble that cocoons today’s cricketers.
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“I got some perspective, which was important,” said guitar player Worrall, the antithesis of a ‘dumb fast bowler’.
Worrall’s maiden County stint in 2018 was stopped by a broken metatarsal bone, then he was grounded by the first of several back stress fractures.
He would return prematurely for South Australia, bowling 100 overs in three Shield games before breaking down again in December 2018.
A torn hamstring taking on WA in Perth last March before another back injury in Gloucester during May left Worrall devastated.
“It was stressies all along and I kept coming back too soon and the same stressies kept opening back up,” he said.
“It wasn’t ideal last time around, I bowled a bit too much too soon and just broke the same bones and took longer to heal.”
The cult-figure known as ‘Frank’ resolved to do it his way, convincing SACA medicos that a change of approach was prudent.
“It feels unbelievable. I am grateful to the SACA staff who have changed their thinking a bit and allowed me to take a bit more control of my rehab and longer than they would have liked,” said Worrall, who took 5/10 in seven overs after tea on the final day against WA in Adelaide to deliver SA consecutive wins for the first time since 2016.
“It was hard for them to let me go a bit slower and cautionary.
“Not playing the four-day stuff in the first half of the year really got me in a space mentally and physically to come back and go full throttle rather than ease my way into four-day cricket.
“The Big Bash was a good way to bowl some overs and if it works it works, and if it doesn’t I will know I have done everything I can.”
Worrall’s seventh five-wicket first-class haul against the Warriors in Adelaide on Monday underlined why the 44-game paceman was a genuine shot at 2019 Ashes selection before breaking down.
“I have been injured for a long time and you just make peace with it. When you get the chance to come back it is good to perform and see the smiles when we win,” said Worrall, who has 178 first-class wickets at 27.
The Redbacks hadn’t won a home game for two years, which made Worrall’s return and advance from a year stuck on 149 Shield wickets sweeter.
“We have just tried to keep an optimistic mindset after a pretty long stretch of inconsistency and underperformance,” Worrall said.
“To win the last one before the BBL and one after, especially at Adelaide Oval, is a great confidence booster that we can perform and make a Shield final.”
There will be no English summer in 2020 for Worrall, who will focus on conditioning and finishing a commerce/law major.
“I am 10 years into a four-year degree, so I am looking forward to staying home and getting fit,” he said.