Careers ruined by injuries

[G.I.Joe]

Atul Sharma

 

[wpdavid]

Some England seamers of the last 20 years who always come to my mind are Simon Jones, Dean Headley, Mark Ilott, Alex Tudor (never recovered from being smacked on the helmet by Brett Lee in 2002/03, and had trouble with various body-parts all career anyway) and Richard Johnson. None were ever going to be a Bishop or even a Reid but all could very easily have been good Test bowlers had they had stronger bodies. Jones, Headley and Tudor played enough to demonstrate what might have been; Ilott and Johnson did not and thus those who like to generalise can write them off as "average county bowler who never had it in him at Test level".

Dean Headley's a particularly good call.

 

[Top_Cat]

Some England seamers of the last 20 years who always come to my mind are Simon Jones, Dean Headley, Mark Ilott, Alex Tudor (never recovered from being smacked on the helmet by Brett Lee in 2002/03, and had trouble with various body-parts all career anyway) and Richard Johnson. None were ever going to be a Bishop or even a Reid but all could very easily have been good Test bowlers had they had stronger bodies. Jones, Headley and Tudor played enough to demonstrate what might have been; Ilott and Johnson did not and thus those who like to generalise can write them off as "average county bowler who never had it in him at Test level".

Agree with the rest but Tudor was pedestrian well before being hit by Brett Lee.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Agree with the rest but Tudor was pedestrian well before being hit by Brett Lee.

Think his back probably had a more adverse affect on his career than being sconed.

If memory serves back when he was a regular (in squads if not the test XI) he was often dropping out because of various twinges. There were one or two unkind whisperings that he perhaps lacked testicular fortitude because of this, but it transpired he had an undiagnosed problem with his back.

 

[Top_Cat]

Think his back probably had a more adverse affect on his career than being sconed.

If memory serves back when he was a regular (in squads if not the test XI) he was often dropping out because of various twinges. There were one or two unkind whisperings that he perhaps lacked testicular fortitude because of this, but it transpired he had an undiagnosed problem with his back.

Yeah remembered hearing the same. Such a shame, looked fantastic early on.

 

[andyc]

Troy Corbett always springs to mind for me. Imagine a 6'5" left-arm quickie with the build of a footballer, the swing (almost) of Wasim Akram and the pace of Brett Lee. Was pretty accurate at pace too (trust me, was terrifying). Could have been anything but had horrific back troubles.

Decent List A record.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Yeah, no-one like facing him. Blokes still talk about how quick he was.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah, no-one like facing him. Blokes still talk about how quick he was.

Serious?? Last played, what, 12 years ago? Can almost still feel the bruise on my hip from what I presume was a cricket ball he bowled at me at Uni. Can't be sure, though; didn't see it.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Decent List A record.

Ha, I love genuine #11s. More FC wickets than runs.

 

[Pothas]

Simon Jones the most obvious one around at the moment but Chris Tremlett has had a terrible run as well, means we have potentially the best bowling combination in the country but I will be pleasantly surprised if they ever play together.

 

[morgieb]

Craig Howard. Went close to an Australian call-up as a youngster but fell behind as his body couldn't handle leggies.

Agreed with Simon Jones, Dean Headley, Alex Tudor, Shane Bond, Ian Bishop and Bruce Reid, FWIW.

 

[morgieb]

And Jeff Thomson and Shoaib Akhtar on the top of my head.

 

[aussie]

Frank Tyson

 

[Richard]

Agree with the rest but Tudor was pedestrian well before being hit by Brett Lee.

Not sure about that - averaged in the mid-20s for his county up to then and since returning from that tour has averaged in the high-30s for his various counties. And until then he'd been a very sporadically promising Test bowler too.

 

[GGG]

Geoff Allott, could of been one of our best ODI bowlers at least. http://www.cricinfo.com/newzealand/content/player/36179.html

 

[popepouri]

Brett Schultz.

Donald, Pollock, and Schultz in the 90's would have been sight to see.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Anyone mentioned Colin Milburn? Not a cricket injury, but he lost an eye in a car crash while still in his prime.

 

[aussie]

Anyone mentioned Colin Milburn? Not a cricket injury, but he lost an eye in a car crash while still in his prime.

Indeed, good shout LT..

 

[Top_Cat]

Not sure about that - averaged in the mid-20s for his county up to then and since returning from that tour has averaged in the high-30s for his various counties. And until then he'd been a very sporadically promising Test bowler too.

For Tests he was pedestrian well before then. His bowling in the 2001 Ashes series, for example. I know he took wickets in one inning but on the whole, had definitely lost some zip.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Geoff Allott, could of been one of our best ODI bowlers at least. Geoff Allott | New Zealand Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | Cricinfo.com

Indeed...the highest wicket taker in the World Cup 99...