Tight scheduling, Vigorous match practice and immense workload are all but the synonyms of today’s cricket on an international scale. Trent Boult, New Zealand’s pace spearhead has claimed that maintaining fitness during clinical series or mega tournaments isn’t an easy task at all.
Boult, who has been rested for the on-going Wellington Test after he complained about the groin injury which kept him struggling on the fourth day of the first Test, said he hopes to return for the final match in Hamilton. ‘It’s a big one for us. I am doing everything right to make sure I can be out there and doing my thing.’ The statement comes after a hefty workload in Dunedin, where he bowled nearly 48 overs, a number bit too much for any fast bowler nowadays.
The bowler, however, was kept on the sidelines in some of the ODI games just to give his body some rest and that helped, he feels so. Boult also said the time-out of the field kept him fresh for the longer format but added picking and choosing which match is important to play is surely a headache for him and the management.
“It’s a tough one. No-one wants to be rested or put aside or put on ice at any stage. Ideally I want to play every game in every format but realistically it’s not going to happen. All those one-day games in the South Africa series were big games but if I missed a couple of those, I might be out there today.”
Realising how tough it is for a bowler to mark his presence and stay fit on the ground, Boult’s on-field partner Tim Southee too vouched for the same concern. Prior to the start of the second Test, Southee said getting right offs during training can be a useful tool for the matches coming up. Though, he feels workload is something that could be monitored between Tests.
“In the Test match you want to be bowling as much as you can. If you are not bowling, you are not taking wickets and all of the bowlers, during a Test match, it’s quite difficult to get the ball out of their hands. That’s a good trait to have. I don’t think you can go into a test match worrying about workloads. That’s something that can be monitored between Test matches.”