Sam is back in fast lane
HE heard a snap, then his leg went floppy.
It was a horror moment for North Queensland fast bowler Sam Collingwood, who feared his days of sending 150km/h thunderbolts at nervous batsmen had ended.
His anterior cruciate ligament was severed, his meniscus torn. His leg hung loose at the joint. But the towering quick refused to give in.
Collingwood put in the hard yards, six weeks on crutches and countless hours with a physiotherapist.
Now, on the eve of returning to the representative arena, almost 18 months after his injury, Collingwood knows that pain was all worth it.
“After missing all of last year through injury, it gets the fire back in the belly,” he said. “It is good to be back around the boys and hopefully we can represent the region well.”
Collingwood fired back into the representative frame with a stirring start to the Townsville Cricket Inc Premier League season. He has taken nine wickets in the opening three rounds at an incredible average of 6.8.
“It has been good to see some results early on,” he said. “I have been working hard, it has been a year of work as well as recovery.
“With the front leg, there is a lot of weight through it, so the first few games I was a bit nervous. But every week and every game I gain more and more confidence. ”
North Queensland will need Collingwood at his best as it aims to overturn almost a decade of heartache against arch rival Cricket Far North.
It has been a long time between drinks, but a win in the Bulls Masters Country Challenge last month has put an extra spring in the side’s step.
“I think we have got the ability to do it in any format,” Collingwood said.
“It is something we can work on, but we have the ability for sure.
“We have been training every Wednesday for the last month or two, and we all train at our own clubs twice a week.
“We are not coming handed or underdone.
“They have won the NQ championship five or six times in the last 10 years. We are not taking them lightly, that’s for sure.
“We have to produce the results on the weekend.” in short