BLOCKING OUT THE NOISE
If I’m being completely honest, I’d say the noise around cricket has got to me in the past – especially when I’ve played away from Australia.
I’d go into a tour with the mindset of wanting to go out there and prove everyone wrong. People in the media would make a lot of me playing overseas and my supposed inadequacies against spin. That was particularly the case if we had a tour coming up in Asia. It would irk me.
I’ve moved past it now. It doesn’t bother me anymore.
I knew I could play those two Test matches against Pakistan this time around and fail four times, but so long as I played the way I wanted to play – and wasn’t worried about how other people wanted me to play – I’d be OK. I had confidence in the training and preparation I’d done.
I knew the game plan I had. It was quite flexible. It wasn’t like I wanted to reverse sweep Yasir Shah every ball or come down the wicket all the time. I just knew I had options to score that I had worked on against spin bowling.
It’s a lot easier facing spin in Australia. You can get away with using your hands against spinners at home and coming down the deck and doing what you want because the bounce is quite true. The wickets in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were different. The plan had to be different, too.
People have asked me if I was exhausted after spending so much time in the middle throughout the first Test against Pakistan. Honestly, I felt alright. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline or the excitement, but I felt really good the first day and the same the next. It did start to catch up to me after that – more of a mental fatigue than physical.
Justin Langer asked me after the first Test, ‘How are you going to get up for the next Test?’ He understood how mentally draining a game like that could be, especially when there are a few highs. And I was like, ‘I’m fine, mate.’
I’ve enjoyed working with JL. We’ve had quite a few talks over the last few months. We’ve talked about areas where I could improve my game, and about life in general. He’s a very passionate guy. You feel that every time you talk to him. He’s very good at making you believe in yourself.
He sent me a text after the tour game before the first Test in Dubai. I got 40-odd. Actually, I got 30 but the universal rule of batting is that you have to round up! So, yeah, I got 40-odd and JL told me, ‘You looked really relaxed, your plans are working, keep doing what you’re doing.’ Little things like that make a huge difference. You know he cares and wants the best for you.
If I’m being completely honest, I’d say the noise around cricket has got to me in the past – especially when I’ve played away from Australia.
The knee injury in the second Test was a bummer. I tried my best to keep going when it first happened. I knew something was up because the pain wouldn’t go away. I’ve hurt my knee before when the pain leaves after a bit of time, but this time it didn’t.
My intention was to get back out there. I really wanted to bat in the fourth innings. I didn’t want to let the team down. But the diagnosis came back as a torn meniscus. That meant surgery.
I felt like I was on the cusp of reaching one of my main goals for the year which was to get back into the Australian one-day side. I’d put in so much hard work behind the scenes that no one saw … and now this. It sucked.
Some of the old negative feelings started to bubble back up for a little while. But then I found a bit of the perspective I mentioned earlier: it could’ve been a lot worse; it’s nowhere near as bad as what I experienced the last time my knee went; the surgeon seemed pretty happy.
I’m aiming to be fit to be selected for the first Test against India. Ideally, I’d play a Shield game or four-dayer before but there are also some club games on around that time, too. Five weeks post-surgery is the goal.
HOME
Injury aside, so many good things have come into my life since I made that tough decision to leave home and move to Queensland. So much of who I have become comes down to that one choice.
Originally, I thought I would one day move back to Sydney. Now, I can’t see myself leaving Brissie, ever. I’m a Queenslander. I’m both feet in.
Coming here was the best decision I’ve ever made.
More about: Australian cricket team | Justin Langer | Sheffield Shield | Test cricket | Usman Khawaja
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