BBL 2019-20 | Prepping with red-ball has got me in groove, reveals Chris Lynn

Despite having established himself as one of the modern-day T20 giants, the past couple of years have not been great for Chris Lynn who, after being a regular in the Australian limited-overs set-up in 2016, finds himself completely out of the fray from the national selection. The explosive batsman has also been hampered by injuries - in particular, a shoulder injury - and that, too, has played a part in him not being able to perform to the best of abilities.

However, the right-hander looked to be at his very best in the recently-concluded Abu Dhabi T10 league - where he scored 371 runs at a strike rate of 236 - and now, ahead of his team Brisbane Heat’s season opener against Sydney Thunder on Tuesday, Lynn has opted for an interesting drill to prep for the T20 extravaganza - practising with the red ball.  

"I actually went back and did a lot of the work that I do when I play with a red ball; getting back to some basic stuff on the pro-batter (a bowling machine that also displays video of the bowler running in and delivering the ball), having 'Fatty' (Fitness) working closely with me," Lynn told cricket.com.au.

"We went back to what's worked for me in the past, because playing Twenty20 cricket you can get caught up in a couple of things and lose a bit of your base. Anyone can go out and slog the ball with no technique and get found out very quickly, but I wanted to make sure I had a good foundation there, and I feel like that's worked for me,” the 29-year-old explained. 

Having predominantly resorted to slogging in the recently-concluded T10 League, where he hit a staggering 60 boundaries (31x6s, 29x4s) in just 157 deliveries, Lynn has revealed that he took that route to get game-time ahead of the BBL season and thanks to its success, labelled the T10 stint as a ‘blessing’. 

"With the Big Bash coming up, I wanted to make sure I got some time in the middle. Yes, it's 10 overs, but you can still lay a foundation and get back into your match-day routines, playing under lights, that kind of thing. So in the end, having 10 weeks off was kind of a blessing. I was able to get really strong and set myself up for the next 12-18 months,” the former KKR man said. 

After finally having had the opportunity to enjoy an injury-free year - something that has been a rarity throughout his career - Lynn revealed that he now understands his body better and stated that his sole focus going forward is to score heaps of runs.

“Every day you get to know your body better. I'm obviously restricted in the field but I try to contribute in other ways out there, and the longer you play, the smarter you get. I know my body is in good shape to handle anything that comes my way now. The priority now is to score a million runs; when you do that all those little issues have a way of disappearing."