Injury troubled quick Jhye Richardson is building towards a return to training

One of Australia’s next generation of fast bowlers is poised to make a positive early step towards a return from injury.

Injury-troubled fast bowler Jhye Richardson has been approved to return to light training over coming weeks following another bout of shoulder surgery.

The extremely talented Richardson dislocated his shoulder celebrating a second wicket in as many balls playing Sheffield Shield for Western Australia last season.

While he returned to bowl in that match and was then added to the Aussie squad for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, Richardson opted to go under the knife in January.

At the time, Richardson said the decision to have further surgery on his right shoulder was to “improve stability and reduce the risk of future injury”.

The 28-year-old – who has 11 wickets at 22 from three Tests – has been given the all clear to return to training, albeit on restricted duties.

The moment Jhye Richardson dislocated his shoulder celebrating a wicket. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Western Australia coach Adam Voges expects to see Richardson at pre-season soon after “progressing quite nicely” in rehab.

“He met with the surgeon last week and he’s been given the tick to start low level skills and that will be a bit of batting to start with,” Voges said.

“We’re still a few weeks, if not a month, away from starting to build his bowling, but the surgery was a success and everyone was really happy with how he’s progressed.

“Jhye has done a lot of work on his fitness in that time and is in good shape; to his credit, he’s worked really hard.

“I think he’s going to give himself every opportunity to be in a good position once that shoulder allows him to get his skills up and going.

“In terms of timeframe, I don’t think we’ve absolutely set one just yet but everything seems to be progressing quite nicely at the moment.”

Richardson claimed 5-42 in his last Test to steer Australia to a final-day victory over England.

Adam Voges says Test cricket remains on Jhye Richardson’s radar. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

The right-armer has endured a wretched injury run since that Adelaide Oval day-night Test, preventing him from further opportunities.

Voges says Richardson still has an eye on playing Test cricket and it is fueling parts of his recovery.

“I think it was a fair part of the reason for going down the surgery path again, he wants to get back to playing international cricket, back playing Test cricket,” he said.

“He wants to give himself the best opportunity to be able to do that and hence the decision to go under the knife again and fix that shoulder.

“We know what Jhye is capable of when he’s up, fit and firing and going well. We’re certainly hopeful of seeing him back to that point sooner rather than later.”

Originally published as Injury troubled quick Jhye Richardson is building towards a return to training