Repaired Steyn wary of doing 'anything stupid'

20 October 2017 - 09:53 By Telford Vice
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Dale Steyn. File photo.
Dale Steyn. File photo.
Image: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images

Dale Steyn is worried. Not about a bowling arm that has been holstered for almost a year‚ nor the shoulder he broke last November‚ nor the three muscles‚ in his arm‚ chest and back‚ he ruptured all in the same awful moment.

He’s familiar enough with his anatomy to talk about obscure parts of his body as if they are old friends: “My infraspinatus … my coracoid …”

But all the injuries have healed and healed well‚ and he is as good to go as a superbly fit‚ 34-year-old‚ champion fast bowler with 243 international caps could possibly be.

So‚ what is Dale Steyn worried about?

“It’s just: ‘Don’t do anything stupid‚’” he said.

“I go for a run up the mountain and I could get a hamstring injury.

“Or I finally get over all of this and I go and roll my ankle getting out of the car.”

Or he could crawl out of bed utterly exhausted from spending his nights starkly awake and in a cold sweat about what might happen should he dare live life normally.

Easy for us to say. Not many make a living from doing something so unnatural to their bodies that‚ sometimes‚ their bodies strike back in self-defence to stop them. But it’s the only way Steyn knows how‚ and he’s mad keen to get back to that.

“My arm is perfect‚” he said. “If anything‚ it’s stronger than it was before because it’s reinforced with a pin.

“I’ve just got to start reminding myself how to bowl at high speeds because I haven’t done it for a year.”

He hopes to do that “for my full run-up‚ at full pace” in whatever Cricket South Africa put in the gaping hole in the season — from November 3 to December 16 — where the postponed T20 Global League was to have been.

It’s been a long walk back to fitness for Steyn‚ not helped by him injuring a pectoral muscle in a rushed attempt to return sooner. That cost him three weeks‚ a big deal when you’re measuring your life in paces.

“I go off three paces on the Monday‚ then on the Wednesday off five paces‚ I bowl 26 balls‚” he said.

“Then‚ on the Friday‚ I bowl off five paces but I bowl 30 balls.

“I bowl Mondays‚ Wednesdays and Fridays at about 70% to 80% of my full run-up‚ at about 60% to 70% intensity.

“The next week we up it‚ and we go Monday‚ Tuesday — Wednesday off — Thursday‚ Friday.”

He’s done most of that nowhere near his teammates. So‚ having spent 11 months knowing only too well the loneliness of the long distance fast bowler‚ Steyn is more than happy to reclaim his spot in the dressing room.

And he’s happier still that it’s a dressing room run by a natural ally in Ottis Gibson‚ the former fast bowler who is now South Africa’s coach.

“It’s the first time in my career that I’ve had a head coach who was a bowler‚” Steyn said. “All the previous coaches were batsmen‚ and they see the game differently to bowlers.

“When I sat in on one or two meetings and I listened to the bowlers‚ I saw Ottis’s eyes light up when ‘KG’ [Kagiso Rabada] was talking‚ and when Morne [Morkel] was talking. They didn’t light up so much when Hashim [Amla] was talking.

“It gets me excited because he’s on the same wavelength as us. It’s great to see the head coach out in the middle when the bowlers are bowling and not in the nets with the batsmen.

“So the love is being shared a bit and I think the bowlers will be taken more seriously when it comes to decision-making.

“They have a lot to offer‚ as well as the batsmen‚ but it’s been batsman-dominated for a very long time.

“If I’m being a bit spiteful‚ I’m quite excited about the head coach being a former bowler.”

It’s OK‚ Dale: be spiteful. You’ve earned it. Now stop worrying and get some sleep.

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now