Thursday, 26 August 2010
As nights go, they don’t get much worse for Stephen Moore. A day that promised so much in his first big final for Lancashire since his move from Worcestershire in the winter turned bad from the very first ball of the match when the hard hitting opener was given out LBW to a ball that he inside edged onto his pad. Lancashire recovered to post a very competitive 185 and after an outstanding opening bowling spell from the skipper Glen Chapple, despite a back injury sustained while batting, Lancs looked to be in the drivers seat. Then Stephen Moore’s 2nd piece of bad luck for the night happened.
On a slippery outfield under lights and in front of a vociferous Chelmsford crowd, Roger (Moore) as he is affectionately known in the dressing room chased a ball along the mid wicket fence and slid to collect the ball just inside the boundary. As he slid and tried to steady himself on the slippery ground to stand and throw, his right shoulder caught awkwardly in the turf and popped out. It dislocated forward and downwards from the socket. The pain was immediate and by the time I got across the field to where he lay in obvious pain I knew he was in trouble.
With the assistance of paramedics we managed to make him more comfortable with some entonox (gas & air commonly used in childbirth) and support the dislocated shoulder in a sling. Feeling woosy from the pain and pain relief he had to be transported across the ground on the groundsman’s buggy to a waiting ambulance. Once at the hospital he was examined and x-ray’s taken to confirm their was no bony fractures. Once this was clear the doctors were able to sedate Stephen, allowing the muscles in the area to relax and the humerus to be relocated safely into the glenoid.
We arrived back at the team hotel in the early hours of the morning and as they say – bad things happen in 3’s. Lancs had lost their third consecutive T20 final in the last over. All in all, one of those days!!!
CHECK THIS BLOG FOR UPDATES ON STEPHEN’S REHABILITATION AND RECOVERY WITH OUR TEAM OVER THE COMING WEEKS
Tuesday, 27 July 2010
After my last blog at the beginning of the Friends Provident T20 Cup we are now at the pointy end of the tournament. After a lot of miles up and down the M6 competing in the North Group and plenty of crash, bang, wallop over 16 group games, we have booked our place in tonight’s quarter final vs Essex at Chelmsford under lights.
The winners will progress to T20 Finals day in a fortnight at the Rose Bowl, consisting of two semi finals and a final where anything can happen. After the disappointment of topping our group last year, getting a home quarter final and then losing to Somerset in a bowl out after three days solid Manchester rain I know the whole squad are keen to put that firmly in the past. Our opponents Essex are a very good one day side and we have become something of sworn rivals after some fierce contests over the past few seasons.
On the injury front Gary Keedy has made a excellent return from a fractured collarbone sustained in a preseason friendly and put in some fine performances for the 2nd XI and now Ist Team. Oliver Newby is also progressing well 7 weeks post ACL repair and after a check up with the specialist last week has been given the all clear to step up his rehab. With Old Trafford out of action at times over the last few months due to the Test match and concerts its been good for the players to mix up their rehab at the Middleton Physio Gym.
From here we travel to Hampshire to get back into Championship cricket with fixtures coming thick and fast over the remaining two months of the season. We could do with some games uninterrupted by weather but first let’s hope we can do the job tonight and silence the vocal Chelmsford crowd.
Cheers
Sam
Friday, 4 June 2010
Well, here we are two months into the season………. and the month long crash bang wallop of the Friends Provident t20 is upon us. We start our campaign tonight at The Riverside vs The Durham Dynamos who boast the international experience and big hitting of Albie Morkel and Ross Taylor. If there’s one thing for sure you won’t miss us in our new t20 fluorescent yellow warm up gear! We have now farewelled Ashwell Prince as our overseas player and added the prolific Simon Katich whose record for Cricket Australia speaks for itself. He also captained NSW to Champions League success last year and will be a great addition to our squad. Our analyst and fellow NSW ‘bluebagger’ Jason Swift is a little excited to have him on board to say the least!
The first phase of the season since our tour to Barbados has been hectic and not without its ups and downs. We squeezed in 7 LV County Championship matches, winning 3 and being denied by rain at crucial times in 2 others but are the only team to remain undefeated, sitting in 3rd overall. Unfortunately we have had a couple of serious injuries in the early part of the season, first of which was Gary Keedy who dived awkwardly on the boundary at Old Trafford and fractured his right collarbone. Thankfully it wasn’t his much heralded left arm, but the surgery that followed meant the best part of 3 months rehab. He has worked hard with Dave Roberts, Alex and myself, and pleasingly today has started some bowling and throwing drills. Over the next month he will continue to build his range of movement and strength and increase the amount of cricket specific work he does, and is aiming to be back playing around the beginning of July. His time out injured hasn’t been a complete waste, as he has passed another exam on the way to becoming a qualified Physiotherapist and spent some time honing his massage skills with our resident massage experts Joanne and Angela at the Broadway Clinic.
One of our key seamers Oliver Newby also sustained a serious knee injury in training, rupturing his Anterior Cruciate Ligament which will require surgery this week and rule him out for the remainder of the season. This also meant he couldnt defend his title of ‘Ultimate Sportsman’ on Cricket AM recently, that honour being passed to Paul ‘The Doctor’ Horton who outshone the other members of the squad in a penalty shootout, golf chip challenge and Darts.
Our 2nd XI and Academy players have also had a busy fixture list, playing 4 days of cricket most weeks and trying to fit in club committments as well. The Lancashire Academy draws players from right across Lancashire and up into Cumbria and a number of the Academy lads have benefitted from the close proximity of the David Roberts Physiotherapy Clinics dotted around the M60 network as they sought treatment on their backs, elbows, shoulders, knees and toes!
Jimmy Anderson is now fighting fit again after a programme of rehab and strengthing with the Lancashire squad after missing the tour of Bangladesh with a knee injury. He returned in great form for Lancashire helping us win our first 2 County Championship matches, and should be raring to go against my old team the Bangladesh Tigers in the 2nd npower Test Match starting today at Old Trafford. It was good to catch up with some of the young players who were coming through when I worked in Dhaka and great to see players like Tamin Iqbal and Shahadat Hossain get their names on the honour boards at Lords for a century and 5 wickets respectively.
Will keep you posted and here’s hoping we have a successful t20 campaign!
Cheers
Sam
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Well we are now over half way through the Lancashire CCC pre-season tour to Barbados and its been great trip for the squad so far. After months of training in the gym, indoor cricket centre and putting in the hard yards freezing up Rivington Pike and Abbey Village, it has been fantastic to get outside and play some cricket.
All the players have been training hard with Alex Horn and getting some good cricket against quality opposition. We played a Twenty20 tournament over the weekend and picked up what will hopefully be our first piece of silverware in a successful season to come.
We beat a spirited Barbados Select team on Saturday, who played in true calypso style with plenty of big hitting and short pitched bowling! This qualified Lancashire Lightning for a Twenty20 Finals Day set up on the Sunday. Another good win against County rivals Essex in the 2nd Semi Final, and then a powerful batting display of 183 against the tournament surprise packets, The University of the West Indies to win the Final.
Most importantly all the players in the 19 man squad have had a chance to get some important time in the middle and bowl some overs outdoors in preparation for the upcoming county season. In other promising signs, a youthful Lancashire line up beat Derbyshire yesterday by 6 wickets in a Pro40, and look set to back it up today against Essex at the 3W’s Oval.
Looking forward to the coming season and let’s hope its a successful for the Lightning!
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Steven Cheetham continues his ankle rehab at our Hazel Grove clinic
As Winter sets in with another season over, the Lancashire squad head in different directions before Christmas and the beginning of pre-season proper in January.
Some players and their families take well earned holidays, while some head to sunnier climes such as Melbourne and Perth to play grade cricket as part of their preparation for next season.
Luke Proctor has recovered from his broken thumb and will spend the Winter at Darren Lehmann’s Academy in Adelaide, while Steven Cheetham is making excellent progress in his rehab from ankle surgery.
To keep the daily grind of rehab interesting and keep the players motivated we try to mix the training and locations up as much as possible, while still maintaining a focus on getting the player fit for cricket. On one day we might do a X-training session at the Middleton Physio-Gym, the next we might be walking to the top of the infamous Rivington Pike.
Today was a tough spin and ankle rehab day at the Hazel Grove Clinic, while Wednesday will see us mixing it up again at our Bolton clinic doing an ankle stability and core session.
The clinics are an excellent purpose built environment to get serious training and rehab done, while also providing a change of scenery and some friendly faces. Will keep you posted on the players’ progress….
Sam
