Mark Craig suffered a side strain. (Source: AP)
New Zealand Test cricketer Mark Craig, who suffered a side strain after the first Test against India in September, busted a medial collateral ligament in his knee upon returning home, and required surgery in February to fix a bulging disc in his back.
Speaking about the difficulty because of his sore back, Craig told nzherald.com, “We had a four-day game in Invercargill [against Canterbury in mid-November] but I had to stop every 20 minutes to get out of the car because my back was so sore.”
Craig has seen difficult days after surgery when even getting up and walking was a pain. “It was a case of lie down, get comfortable, get up and walk around, and try to lie down again. There was a lot of doing nothing. Until they’ve had a back issue people say it must be fun chilling out watching movies, but do it for a week and you start going stir crazy.”
“I wasn’t even allowed to sit in my car too long. I would end up driving from my flat to University Oval for treatment, but by the time I got home I was sore again. The debilitation gets to you because you need your back to do everything.”
The entire injury period made Craig realise how much he loves cricket. “It made me realise how much I miss playing cricket. When you have something you’ve done since four or five-years-old taken away, it makes you feel pretty vulnerable.”
“Test cricket is the pinnacle, but you’ve got to be realistic. Having had a year out of the game, I’ve got to concentrate on putting performances together for the Volts. I need a whole season injury free to get back into the swing of things under our new coaches Rob [Walter] and Anton [Roux].”
