'It's good to be back out on the park'

by Cricbuzz Staff • Last updated on Mon, May 25, 2020, 06:55 PM

Gabriel returns to action after an ankle surgery and six-month long rehab. © AFP

While the cricketing brains figure out a way to come back from this pandemic-forced lockdown, Shannon Gabriel is on a comeback from a break of his own. After a poor two-Test series against India in September 2019, followed by an equally dismal County outing with Gloucestershire, he went under the knife owing to a troubling right ankle. He returns now, having completed a six-month long rehabilitation, rearing to find his name on that flight to the UK.

Even as the Cricket West Indies (CWI) continue their discussions with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) over the feasibility of the three-match Test series behind closed doors in a bio-secured environment, Gabriel tells i995 FM radio, "The plan is right now to try to make it to the tour to England - hopefully that comes off. I'm just trying my best to stay positive and I hope everything goes well. It's always a good feeling to represent West Indies. It's good to be back out on the park.

"It has been a long journey since November when I did the surgery on my ankle. Everything is going well, it has been a long process in terms of getting back to running and bowling and stuff like that."

It's mostly been a case of just easing into things at the moment for the 32-year-old speedster and making sure he does the small things right. "There has been no high-intensity work, I'm just taking my body back into it easy, taking it one day at a time and not trying to push too hard but it's still long while before the first Test in England and by that time I'm sure I'll be fit and ready."

"I am trying my best to be as fit as possible so I'm really working hard in terms of my fitness and managing my weight, trying not to get too heavy to put too much strain on my ankle. So I know once I put in the hard work everything will be ok in the end. I just want to stay positive."

The process of rehab though has forced Gabriel to tweak his action and remodel his run-up so as to reduce the pressure he puts on his ankles.

"My run-up has probably just tweaked a bit, in terms of my running technique and stuff like that, but I don't think there are many changes," he explains. "Obviously that ankle was getting most of the pressure and obviously I don't want that type of injury to happen again, so I'm trying my best to stay fit so I can stay on the park [longer]."

His West Indies skipper, Jason Holder, was expectedly delighted with the news of Gabriel's return. "I'm happy to have him back... he's been able to get over the injury. I'm just glad he's pretty much healthy again," Holder told hosts Leighton Levy and Kimani Ffriend on Sports Nation on Nationwide radio 90FM.

"Shannon goes through a lot physically when he bowls... he is one of those bowlers who puts a lot of strain on the body so it's good to see that he can now run in. He was bowling through a lot of pain, he was pushing really hard. [Good he's in] a lot less pain and be able to execute for West Indies again."

However, with the ICC having introduced new guidelines with regards to the age-old practice of usage of saliva in shining the ball, fast bowling might never be the same. Or rather, the fast bowler might never be the same.

Gabriel is aware of the challenge and warns it to being "mentally taxing on the brain," before adding, "but you have to stay positive and keep your mind fresh." Holder too warns of possible exhaustion for the quicks at the start.

"Our bowlers have to be careful when we start back - we have to make sure we don't push it too hard too fast. We will have a build-up leading up to that first Test match. These are all things that have been part of many discussions and we know we will have to gradually build things up leading into the first game"

FROM AROUND THE WEB

DIGITAL

Search This Blog

sasgvav fasav 332534tgb xcfbsghsdfh 435346

'It's good to be back out on the park'

FROM AROUND THE WEB

Comments

Post a Comment