Cash fears Murray could pay

ANDY MURRAY jets out to Brisbane in the new year but Australian legend Pat Cash fears the Scot could be risking his long-term health by continuing to put his body through the mill.

The British No1 has targeted the Brisbane International, which starts in the new year, as his return to action after resting his troublesome hip injury since his Wimbledon quarter-final defeat by Sam Querrey in July.

It is the first season he will start as a thirty-something

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and while Roger Federer continues to redefine the age boundaries, Cash knows major injury is more likely to lead to retirement, having hung up his own racket at 32 after more than five years battling a series of problems.

Now 52, he feels he bears the scars of those battles and cannot believe that Murray – having won three Grand Slam titles, the Olympics and the Davis Cup, and reached the top of the world rankings – is preparing to put himself through more turmoil. “I, too, was injured a lot,” said Cash, left. “I felt I still had something to give but I just could not get going. Everybody is different. Some guys fade away because they are sick of it, some guys get injured. I never really had any regrets because I knew I had given it everything. There is no reason you can’t still play well, but you have got to have that motivation.

“But then you have your long-term health to think of. My hip is gone, my back is gone. I can play a bit of doubles but there are very few tennis players who get away with not having to limp around for the latter part of their life.

“The common talk these days among players of my generation is who had their