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[Nespresco]

I have had some problems with my bowling for the last season and a half, I initially didn't land correctly on my front ankle which caused a good amount of strain. I worked on correcting the problem and I am sure I now land better on my ankle however it becomes very sore after bowling.  I was concerned and went to see my GP about it, He said that it was likely cartilage damage and explained the complexity of the ankle joints. It has now been just over a Week since I bowled 8 overs (ended up having to bowl of a few paces) and my ankle is still sore. At worse it could be ligament damage which can take more than 18 months resting to fully heal if I am correctly informed. My doctors advice was to stop bowling immediatley as my ankle cannot sustain the strain of bowling and urged me to seriously consider the long terms aspects of further damaging my ankle, at worse I could struggle to run or play any sport at all.

I am pretty sure that the damage has been caused by technical flaws in my action, however correcting it would take a significant amount of time and put further strain on my ankle. Even if I was able to then have a perfect action would the strain on my weakened ankle, which is an inherent consequence of bowling, would surely continue to cause irreversible damage. Would learning to bowl spin cause significantly less strain, Im a decent enough bowler off a few paces as well so that is, as ever an option. However my principle concern is that at the age of 21 the last thing I want is to be unable to run/jog without having to take pain killers by the time in 25.

Currently I'm a decentish number 6-8 batsmen, This i think is the most realistic solution for me to carry on playing cricket, which is something I very much wish to do. I would like to improve to a number 5-6 Batsmen or possibly even higher. This will take a lot of work i'm sure. But i'm convinced this is my best option.

Whilst I would like to carry on bowling i'm not sure if it is a realistic possibility. The other option is to consult with a physiotherapist and see if they can shed new light on the situation. Really I'm just looking for some advice on what to do to best enjoy, and carry on playing cricket.

[tim2000s]

Go get some advice from a physio first, then make your mind up.

[mattw]

I cant really help you on your problem, however I've quite seriously damaged my ankle over the weekend after rolling it playing football. Off to casulty or something tomorrow to see what I've actually done, I've had injuries in the past and this feels like it could be a bad one.

Could be a lengthy lay off for me

[razor2000nz]

go to a podiatrist and see what they say.

i couldn't field 50 overs week in week out with out bowling, as ive always been a bowler, if they cant do anything to solve ur problem, i would seriously look at taking spin bowling up. (its so much easier on the body)

[slogsweep]

I had the same problem with my front foot ankle a few years ago. And personally I feel if your front foot is landing dead straight you shouldn't have to much of a problem regardless of how Dodgy your upper body technique might be, but when it lands at an angle your body momentum will twist it causing the damage.

Another aspect which caused my injury was lack of warming up and it was the first game of the season. Maybe that's something you could look at, if you start putting massive amounts of pressure without warming up you are asking for trouble. The start of the season is always a horrible time as it takes abit of time to get that strength back into those muscles and joints.

[mattw]

That's a good point, find out ways of making your ankles stronger.

[Nespresco]

Thanks for the advice so far, I warm up pretty well, and never bowl without feeling 'loose'. The problem was that I was bowling with a closed front foot, this is now more open, however I am sure it is still not perfect. I am at Loughborough University so can only presume we have some good physios up here and will try and seek some advice from them.

[ianbuchanan]

As you may remember, I had a broken ankle when I scored our game last year,  the best way it got back to 'normal' was through physiotherapy. However saying that, my ankle has began to hurt a lot after the first few games, so I guess I'm kind of in the same boat as you

[Nespresco]

Yeah it's not great, Its a pretty complex thing to injure, and as the doctor said its not like an elbow that is easy to rest. My main concerns were from his advice to seriously consider the long term damage I would be doing by continuing. Will try and see if I can consult with a physio soon. Worst comes to worst I'm going to have to put some serious hours and hard work in to improve my batting.

[Buzz]

If you are at loughborough you must have access to a few decent cricket coaches...! Without seeing you actually bowl it is difficult to know what the issue is, but it isn't surprising that after changing how your front foot lands (after years of doing it one way) the ligaments/musles are strained when you do something different as you aren't attuned to what you are doing.

Batting is much ore fun anyway and going from a 6-8 batsman to a top 5 batsman is more than possible with a little practice

[mattw]

Went to the minor injuries unit today and I got my ankle X-rayed. Luckily there wasn't a fracture, however they said the condition that my ankle was very badly sprained and that it could take upto as long as a fracture to heal. They said that it should only be upto 6 weeks.

[Bez013]

I dislocated my left ankle a couple of years ago and it took at least 12 months before it was 'right' it was okay to play on within 3 months but I could just tell it wasn't as strong, luckily I could resort to bowling off breaks.  I had to work on strengthening the ankle again and doing rotational exercises and so on, the following season I was able to go back to bowling seam and putting pressure through the ankle joint without the stress causing problems.

Really can't emphasise enough that you need to make sure you get proper treatment to resolve whatever problems (if possible) you may have.