“Last hurdle is to be able to bowl at maximum speed again” - Jhye Richardson taking it easy on road to recovery

After having a stellar year which saw him claim 17 wickets from just eight ODIs and also earn a maiden Test cap, Jhye Richardson dislocated his shoulder in the second ODI against Pakistan. The injury meant that the speedster missed both the World Cup and subsequently the Ashes - a telling blow to both himself and his country  - as arguably, he would have had a realistic chance of making it to the starting XI in both the series. 

Injuries are unfortunate and uncontrollable, but very rarely do elite athletes hover over them. One thing that can actually be controlled, however, is the road to recovery, and being an elite athlete himself, Richardson is back on the park in no time trying to get back to his best. The Western Australian speedster is currently in Chennai at the MRF Pace Foundation along with the Australian National Performance Squad, where he is closely working with the legendary Glenn McGrath as he looks back to regain full fitness.

Speaking exclusively to SportsCafe last week, the Australian speedster revealed that he is almost close to full fitness, with the one final hurdle being that of bowling quick. He also admitted that he was happy with the way he was bowling, getting the natural shape away from the right-hander. 

“I would like to think around 80-90%. Rehab has been quite a long process but today I bowled again and bowled really well so I think the last real hurdle I need to get over is being able to bowl really fast again,” Richardson told SportsCafe in an exclusive interview.

“I've been bowling well and still swinging the ball so that's a good sign, but I think but the last little bit is to be able to bowl at maximum speed again,” he added.

Bowling in the nets, the 23-year old was seen gently warm-up with a few harmless deliveries with a very small run-up before slowly cranking the pace up. Speaking about it, the Western Australian quick revealed that he’s been following a strict and conscious method of increasing his pace in the nets slowly but steadily, to ensure that he doesn't overstretch his recovering shoulder. 

“It (the slow transition) just allows me to warm up a bit easier, helps me to have just that little bit more confidence in my shoulder to be ready to go.

“I haven't warmed up properly and I go straight into bowling really quickly then it's probably gonna hurt a bit more than it should so yeah, to just be able to progressively warm-up, it just allows me to get my shoulder going.”

The Aussies will kick off their summer post the Ashes against the touring Lankan side and Richardson is aiming to make his comeback to the National side in the very same series. But the speedster insisted that the key to his comeback will be his performances in domestic cricket, with the Marsh ODI cup set to commence from September 21. 

“Yeah I think so,” he said, when quizzed if he was aiming to return in the Sri Lanka series. 

"I think the key with that, to be able to get back into the Australian team is to be able to perform well at the domestic level. So the next cricket after this tour of India (Chennai MRF camp) is to go back into Domestic Cricket.”

In 2018, Richardson was overlooked for the ODI series against the Proteas in November after playing the two bilateral series’ that preceded it against the English side. However, it didn’t take long for him to make his way back into the side, as he found himself back in the mix just a couple of months later.

Reflecting on it, Richardson said that he tried too hard to get back into the side, admitting that it was not the best way to go about things. He then went on to discuss the importance of being able to enjoy his cricket in order to perform to the best of his abilities, while adding that he was grateful to be back on the field pretty early post his shoulder injury.

“I think for me, especially last year, there was a tour I didn't get picked for and then I was pushing really hard to get back into the team and that's not always the best way to go. You need to be able to enjoy your cricket, have fun and when you're having fun, you will perform better. 

“So that will be the plan. Just to go back and play good state cricket. Enjoy, have fun and be grateful that I'm still able to play this early after recovery (from injury) and whatever happens after that, we'll see.”

In today’s cricketing world, the steepest challenge for any bowler, especially in ODI cricket, might be claiming the wicket of Virat Kohli. Amazingly enough, Richardson emulated that very feat earlier this year - not once, not twice, but thrice. 

The Western Australian reflected on that achievement of his and further went on to speak about the challenge of bowling to someone like a Kohli. Richardson also expressed his admiration for Kohli’s competitiveness which usually adds an extra dimension to games and revealed that the Indian skipper brings the best out of him, describing his mini-battles against the latter as a fantastic experience.

“It is a good feeling (taking the wicket of Kohli thrice). I think obviously the contest against someone like a Virat, who is the best player in the world, sort of ramps up a little bit more adrenaline and your juices get flowing. Because he is such a class player, you wanna bowl fast and you wanna bowl better, so there's that competition. 

“He senses that as well while batting, he can sense the bowler going "Man I wanna get you out" so he is equally getting fired up and he wants to get in the contest as well.

“So it's a fantastic experience and whilst I did get him out three times in a row, it's not something I go into every game thinking "I'm going to get Virat Kohli out". It's more about trying to my job for the team and then if I happen to get people like that (Virat) out then it's just me doing my job for the team.”

Chatting further about the toughest batsmen he’s bowled to, Richardson took the names of Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Steve Smith, but for various different reasons. Speaking of why it was difficult to bowl to Kohli, the Australian pointed towards the incredible flexibility of the Indian skipper to hit the same delivery to different parts of the ground and his ability to keep the scoreboard ticking. 

“I think Virat is up there (with the toughest he’s bowled to). He certainly knows how to rotate the strike very easily. He can hit the same ball into three or four different parts of the ground so he's very difficult to bowl to.”

He then went on to explain why Rohit’s volatile nature as a batsman made him so difficult to bowl to, with the Mumbaikar having the outlandish ability to shift gears in a matter of few deliveries. Richardson has been at the receiving end of many an assault from the Indian opener, including his 133 at Sydney earlier this year, where he almost took the Indians home against all odds. 

“Sticking to the Indian team, someone like a Rohit Sharma as well, I find really difficult to bowl to. I could be bowling the first over of the game and he's blocked out six dots in it and then the first ball of the next over he would hit me for a six back over my head. 

“He can sort of flick a switch just like that and go from someone playing really defensively and getting his eye into hitting the ball back over the bowler's head and you never know when that's gonna happen.” 

“From an Indian perspective, those two, and bowling to someone like a Steve Smith in the nets is really really difficult,” Richardson added.

The pace sensation will now be aiming to hit the ground running in the newly restructured “Marsh ODI Cup”, with his side Western Australia set to take on Victoria in the first match of the tournament at Perth on September 21.