On the raw day we meet, at his old cricket club in Hampshire, Chris Tremlett, the colossal England and Surrey fast bowler recovering from a recent back operation, is on the outfield doing a series of TV interviews in a short-sleeved shirt.
Out in the cold: but Chris Tremlett says he can get back to his best
Unless the old verities have changed, a cold wind on the lower back is anathema to bowlers of all kinds so it is just as well Tremlett will not be using his for a month or two.
When he has retreated to the relative warmth of the pavilion (a small, portable gas heater being the sole source of heat at Hursley Park CC), he shows me the parallel scars that betray the surgery needed to decompress the disc and nerve between lumbar discs four and five. A bulging or leaky disc in that section of spine is a problem suffered by many a fast bowler, though his well-muscled, 6ft 8in frame, which would not be out of place packing down next to Simon Shaw in the second row at Twickenham, means the stresses are multiplied.
“Having an operation rather than rest and rehab was something we spoke about back in August when the state of the disc wasn’t too bad,” said Tremlett, after launching NatWest CricketForce’s search for the most-loved cricket club in England and Wales. “But after working hard to get back, the problem re-occurred after the first Test against Pakistan in Dubai and the only option was to come back and have the operation as soon as possible.
“The surgeon is talking about the start of May before I’m bowling in matches again, though whether that’s too rushed I’m not sure. But whatever the time frame, hopefully this surgery will nip the problem in the bud and prolong my career for five or six years.”
Fast bowlers tend to have a zenith between the uncertainty of their early growing pains and the age when the indignity of medium pace sets in, which it tends to have done by their mid-thirties. Tremlett is 30 and having destroyed the Aussies in the Ashes series 15 months ago, is, at least when fit, in that peak phase at the moment. Yet, he sounds gung-ho about competing for a good few years yet and even has a theory that his many injuries might just be the thing that allows him to keep thundering them down.
I keep myself fit anyway but the many problems I’ve suffered throughout my career might hopefully be the thing that prolongs it. I missed out on a lot of cricket when I was younger so the joints shouldn’t be as worn as they could be.”
Timing is everything in cricket, especially when you are a big fast bowler coming back from injury, so missing the action while your rivals labour on slow, Asian pitches might be seen as something of a break. Yet, team sports create a unique paranoia and while you ease back to fitness with sundry gym and physiotherapy sessions, there is always the niggling thought that someone - in his case Steve Finn - has the chance to make your old place in the team their own.
“It’s something I’ve got used to over my career. I’ve been around England squads where I’ve got injured at the wrong time and other guys have had opportunities ahead of me. It’s certainly something I’ve had to cope with mentally.
“At the moment, the England team is a strong place to be. It was hard for me to get back into the side but someone like Steve, who was in the XI for the first three Tests of the last Ashes series, has also had to wait a long time to get his chance back. Last year he only played one Test which was scant opportunity given he was bowling fantastically well. He’s had to be patient but he’s been knocking on the door for a long time, especially so after his performances in India and now in Dubai.”
Finn is indeed bowling well for England, in one-day cricket, but you sense Tremlett possesses none of the ill-feeling Gore Vidal articulated when he said: “Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.”
“Everyone gets on. I know Broady and Finny are a similar height to me, but I think we all bowl in slightly different ways. Finny brings the ball in, I’m more of a swinger and Broad does a bit of everything. It’s a friendly rivalry and whichever combination of us and Tim Bresnan plays alongside Jimmy Anderson we back each other all the way.”
England appear to be well-endowed of fast bowlers and Flower has long talked about having a rotation policy to husband them. At the moment, injury, to Broad, Bresnan and Tremlett, has driven any change. But for the scheme to work, as Flower envisages, a time will arise when someone will have to sit out a match or two despite being fit and in form.
“A rotation policy that has not come about from injury will be tough. If you are in the side and bowling well you want to keep bowling. You certainly don’t want to miss a game and then come back for the next one. But, at the end of the day, it is the management’s decision.”
Bowling power has been the main reason behind England’s rise to No 1 Test team and something a fit Tremlett has played his part in. Height and pace tend to be the two most lethal arbiters of Test cricket and something you can never have too much of, as the West Indies teams of the 1980s showed.
“It was a great feeling of success and achievement when we reached No 1 last year. We’d produced consistent performances for so long. But having got there we’ve had to reassess our goals to make sure we can stay there. But I’m not thinking about England at the moment. I’ve just had an op and Test cricket is at the back of my mind. There’s a lot to get right regarding body and fitness before I can bring it to the front.
“Obviously, the eventual goal is to get back in the England side and if all goes well with my rehab and playing for Surrey, the South Africa series in the middle of the summer is a realistic goal.
“I know that when I am bowling well I’m as good as anyone on the team sheet. But at the same time I have played one Test in the last eight months so I need to be realistic and prove to people I’m not a risky selection.”
Chris Tremlett supports NatWest’s Biggest Little Cricket Club campaign, a search to find the most loved and worthy NatWest CricketForce club. The winning club will receive a visit from Michael Vaughan and a team of cricket specialists. To vote for your club and find out how to register for NatWest CricketForce visit www.natwest.com/cricket before March 23 2012.
I keep myself fit anyway but the many problems I’ve suffered throughout my career might hopefully be the thing that prolongs it. I missed out on a lot of cricket when I was younger so the joints shouldn’t be as worn as they could be.”
Timing is everything in cricket, especially when you are a big fast bowler coming back from injury, so missing the action while your rivals labour on slow, Asian pitches might be seen as something of a break. Yet, team sports create a unique paranoia and while you ease back to fitness with sundry gym and physiotherapy sessions, there is always the niggling thought that someone - in his case Steve Finn - has the chance to make your old place in the team their own.
“It’s something I’ve got used to over my career. I’ve been around England squads where I’ve got injured at the wrong time and other guys have had opportunities ahead of me. It’s certainly something I’ve had to cope with mentally.
“At the moment, the England team is a strong place to be. It was hard for me to get back into the side but someone like Steve, who was in the XI for the first three Tests of the last Ashes series, has also had to wait a long time to get his chance back. Last year he only played one Test which was scant opportunity given he was bowling fantastically well. He’s had to be patient but he’s been knocking on the door for a long time, especially so after his performances in India and now in Dubai.”
Finn is indeed bowling well for England, in one-day cricket, but you sense Tremlett possesses none of the ill-feeling Gore Vidal articulated when he said: “Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.”
“Everyone gets on. I know Broady and Finny are a similar height to me, but I think we all bowl in slightly different ways. Finny brings the ball in, I’m more of a swinger and Broad does a bit of everything. It’s a friendly rivalry and whichever combination of us and Tim Bresnan plays alongside Jimmy Anderson we back each other all the way.”
England appear to be well-endowed of fast bowlers and Flower has long talked about having a rotation policy to husband them. At the moment, injury, to Broad, Bresnan and Tremlett, has driven any change. But for the scheme to work, as Flower envisages, a time will arise when someone will have to sit out a match or two despite being fit and in form.
“A rotation policy that has not come about from injury will be tough. If you are in the side and bowling well you want to keep bowling. You certainly don’t want to miss a game and then come back for the next one. But, at the end of the day, it is the management’s decision.”
Bowling power has been the main reason behind England’s rise to No 1 Test team and something a fit Tremlett has played his part in. Height and pace tend to be the two most lethal arbiters of Test cricket and something you can never have too much of, as the West Indies teams of the 1980s showed.
“It was a great feeling of success and achievement when we reached No 1 last year. We’d produced consistent performances for so long. But having got there we’ve had to reassess our goals to make sure we can stay there. But I’m not thinking about England at the moment. I’ve just had an op and Test cricket is at the back of my mind. There’s a lot to get right regarding body and fitness before I can bring it to the front.
“Obviously, the eventual goal is to get back in the England side and if all goes well with my rehab and playing for Surrey, the South Africa series in the middle of the summer is a realistic goal.
“I know that when I am bowling well I’m as good as anyone on the team sheet. But at the same time I have played one Test in the last eight months so I need to be realistic and prove to people I’m not a risky selection.”
Chris Tremlett supports NatWest’s Biggest Little Cricket Club campaign, a search to find the most loved and worthy NatWest CricketForce club. The winning club will receive a visit from Michael Vaughan and a team of cricket specialists. To vote for your club and find out how to register for NatWest CricketForce visit www.natwest.com/cricket before March 23 2012.
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