Western Australia Premier Cricket T20:<\/b> There were days during his long road back to playing cricket again when Lance Morris would turn up to training, run in to bowl and feel nothing like the tearaway who once had Australian cricket talking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Now, with Australia preparing to host England in the ODI series, Morris has admitted that the injury lay-off took a mental toll on him and that, more than 18 months after his last top-level game, he is finally ready to play again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Morris, 28, missed the entire 2025\/26 season after pars stabilisation surgery for a recurring lumbar bone-stress injury, the same operation Cameron Green had gone through earlier. Going under the knife, he said, was the only real alternative to a year of doing nothing at all.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI got to a point where essentially I had to have 12 months off cricket. It was either 12 months of pure rest and hoping that it heals naturally or address it with this surgical intervention and hopefully put it behind me for good. It was certainly tough at times.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cMore recently, there were a few sessions there where I\u2019d rock up to training and feel pretty average when I was bowling. (I) was (feeling) pretty down in the dumps. I feel really good at the moment, and I think I\u2019ve pushed through a bit of a threshold and got back to that game intensity that we were looking for,\u201d Morris was quoted as saying by Cricinfo on Wednesday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Even the comeback did not run smoothly. After regaining fitness over the off-season, Morris was primed to play at the start of the domestic summer. But a side strain sidelined him for almost two more months.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The time on the sidelines cost him more than matches. The management of his back problem became a source of friction between Morris, Cricket Australia and WA, and earlier this year he lost the CA contract he had held since 2023.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Last Sunday, Morris finally bowled in a match again, taking 2-14 in four overs for Scarborough in a Western Australia Premier Cricket T20 game. \u201cI\u2019m really excited. I think it\u2019s been the longest pre-season I\u2019ve ever had, so I\u2019m feeling really fit. It was good to get a game in for the local cricket club over the weekend and let a few go, so it was awesome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A tougher test comes on Saturday, when WA host England in a one-day warm-up at the WACA to open the visitors' white-ball tour of Australia. In his absence, others have caught the selectors' eye. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Jhye Richardson has made a blistering start to the Sheffield Shield season after overcoming his injury woes. Mahli Beardman, 21, has earned a place in Australia\u2019s white-ball squads for the England series.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The timing could still work in Morris\u2019s favour. Australia\u2019s frontline attack is ageing and having spent so long on the sidelines, Morris is in no hurry. <\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s easy to sort of cast your eyes that far ahead and have goals to play for Australia. But I think, at the moment, it\u2019s just one step in front of the other and getting through a couple of games unscathed. Then see where we get to.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Morris signed off by being full of praise for Beardman, who made his international debut in a T20I in Pakistan earlier this year. \u201cHe\u2019s obviously got a great reputation already, and he deserves it. He\u2019s a star in the making, and I think he\u2019s got all the attributes to not only be an incredible white-ball cricketer, but also multi-format.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s easy to sort of cast your eyes that far ahead and have goals to play for Australia. But I think, at the moment, it\u2019s just one step in front of the other and getting through a couple of games unscathed. Then see where we get to.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Also Read: <\/b> Special Cricket Stories<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n