OVERTON BREAKS PAIN BARRIER
CRAIG Overton, a bright spark amid the gloom of another doomed Ashes for England, risked puncturing a lung by playing on in Perth after suffering a cracked rib.
Overton was struck in the chest by Pat Cummins while batting on debut in Adelaide, but it was only after he dived to try to catch Usman Khawaja off his own bowling in Perth that he suffered what could have led to a worse injury.
“It’s a hairline fracture but I could have made it worse by playing on,” said Overton in the aftermath of England’s third successive defeat.
“The doctor said I could have punctured a lung. That’s why I was making sure I didn’t dive on it too much, because then it would break properly and be a lot worse.
“Even though I didn’t bowl that many overs, I could still bowl some so the other boys didn’t have to. The aim was just to get through the game.
“It was painful but not too bad that I couldn’t get through.”
The Somerset bowler insisted he did not go into the third Test with the injury, even though he was clearly in discomfort in Adelaide.
“I got hit last week but it was fine,” Overton said. “And in the build-up to the game in Perth I was bowling fine in the nets with no painkillers – that’s why I wasn’t worried.
“But I went for a caughtand-bowled and landed on it and that’s when I did it. Then I bowled a bumper and that’s when it hurt.”
Overton is in doubt for the fourth Test at the MCG on Boxing Day, when England will need more of the fight shown by the inexperienced Devonian to have any chance of avoiding a fourth defeat.
“There’s a lot of swelling, so we’ll wait and see, but I hope three or four days will help,” he said.
“The draw of playing at the MCG will be massive but I’ve got to be realistic.
“There’s another game after Melbourne, then the New Zealand series, so it’s the bigger picture.”
Whatever happens next, the 23-year-old has shown he has a future in Test cricket by impressing England with his character and toughness with ball, bat and in the field in a series dominated by Australia.
“It just seemed like battling through the pain was in my nature,” said Overton of his third-Test defiance.
“I’ve always been taught to fight through things and that’s what I had to do.
“We’re fighters down in Somerset and that’s the way we play our cricket.
“You can’t show too much pain.”