Cricinfo article from 2009: 'The Case Of the Brittle Kiwi'
'The summer of 1999 was a good time to be a New Zealand supporter. In the World Cup,
Geoff Allott and
Dion Nash made an exciting combination. A year later, in Zimbabwe, Allott and Nash were queuing up for fitness tests. Allott had missed the England summer the previous year with a stress fracture in his lower back, and Nash already had a history of a collapsed disc. Both were making comebacks for the tour, but would have gone back midway in ideal circumstances. However, the team was desperate because of injuries to Daniel Vettori and Chris Cairns.'
'A study by the University of Otago in December 2000, about three months after that Zimbabwe tour, saw a recurrence-rate of 78% in bowlers who had suffered previous breakdowns. Bowlers who had suffered serious injury in the previous two seasons were 2.5 times more likely to have a recurrence of the same injury than those who had remained uninjured in that time. And 61% of the injuries occurred within the first month of the cricket season, including all spinal stress fractures, which were 14% of total injuries. Graeme Nuttridge, who worked with the New Zealand board at the time, and was also one of the researchers, pointed out how the high rate of injury in the first month of competition suggested that injured bowlers were probably returning too early.'
"I recall one night in South Africa. I remember my team-mates looking down at me in astonishment on the floor. That was when they came to know about the reality of how much pain I was suffering. There was a stress fracture I didn't know of, and I bowled at 140kph. It was quite excruciating"
- Geoff Allott
'Doull remembers the frustration of four operations on the knee, and several stress fractures, and the slipped disc. He remembers waking up and not being able to get out of bed or tie his shoelaces, and still playing.'