Morkel to get every chance to recover
THE DURBAN HEAT will continue to sweat on the fitness of skipper Albie Morkel a little bit longer, but they did receive some encouraging news from doctors yesterday.
Morkel was struck on the arm and, more pertinently, his bowling wrist, by a powerful straight-drive from partner Vernon Philander on Friday night, during a nine-wicket loss to the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants.
The extent of the immediate impact was such that Morkel was forced off the field at a crucial stage in proceedings, and was pictured nursing his wrist with ice in the changing-room.
“It isn’t broken, so that is a relief,” sighed Dolphins Cricket chief executive Heinrich Strydom.
“Not broken, but very heavily bruised. We will see how he recovers over the next few days, but it is some encouraging news.”
Since Friday, Morkel has played a waiting game, as he and the Heat management are adamant that he will give himself every chance to get back on the field as soon as possible.
The size of the hole that would have been left if Morkel’s worst fears were to be realised, and he missed the rest of the Mzansi Super League, was too big to even contemplate for the Durban franchise.
He hasn’t bowled much so far, but he is still a canny operator with the new ball. More significantly, however, he is a gun in the middle-order, where his runs and composure have already saved the Heat from tough situations.
His experience and influence within a new squad has been stated at length by both coach Grant Morgan and Strydom, so it will not be a hasty decision taken.
“He is absolutely critical to us. So we were always going to give him every opportunity to recover. It was just a freak accident,” Strydom bemoaned.
Realistically, the Heat may have to accept that Morkel is out of tomorrow’s fixture against the Paarl Rocks at Kingsmead. That match could come too soon in the recovery of a crucial part of cricketing anatomy.
As massive as tomorrow night is for the struggling Heat – they have a solitary victory and two losses in the competition – they would be loathe to rush him back for a one-off game, and risk his participation for the business end of the competition.
“It is an important period in the competition for us. Wednesday is a massive game, but then we play on Friday, Sunday and the next Wednesday,” Strydom said.
“By then, we will have a far better idea of where we stand in the competition. We need to turn momentum around, and hopefully we can start that on Wednesday.”
The Heat are in desperate need of good news, and so are their fans.
Thus far, they have not quite lived up to the significant promise that their draft pickings had. Their batting, in particular, needs to step up and deliver.
They do still have one ace in the pack. Rashid Khan, the superstar leg-spinner from Afghanistan, is scheduled to arrive on Sunday, to play a big part in the final dash for a spot in the playoffs.
Over the next week, however, the rest of the Heat squad need to get back on the winning trail, and give their overseas trump card something to work with. That resurgence is one they hope to start against the Rocks tomorrow evening.