Paceman Mark Footitt insists he will be fit and firing by the time Nottinghamshire open their 2018 campaign next April.
The left-armer suffered a rare stress fracture of the neck soon after his return to Trent Bridge, which ruled him out of the Club’s final matches of a momentous 2017.
But after a prescribed period of rest, Footitt, who turns 32 on Saturday, is now ready to step up his comeback after a frustrating period on inactivity.
The Nottingham-born player has been restricted to static cycling only, but will now be stepping up his recovery programme in the lead-up to Christmas.
“After the Worcestershire game (in August) it was decided all I could do is come in and watch cricket – which is very hard work when you see things aren't quite going to plan on the field and you can’t do anything about it – and it was like that six to seven weeks,” said Footitt.
“The rest has allowed me to sort out a few other issues with my body after two or three years of constant cricket.”
“For most people, they would snap your hand off that sitting on a bike for 20 minutes is your day done, but when you are used to be active and want to do something it is extremely frustrating.
“I felt a bit unlucky because I’d just signed with the Club I started out with and we had three or four games left where we were pushing for promotion or the Division Two Championship title.
“It was disappointing, but at least it didn’t come in February or March next year and then you could end up missing the whole season. The rest has also allowed me to sort out a few other issues with my body after two or three years of constant cricket.
“Now I’m able to do further distances on the bike, body weights and squats, so it’s starting to feel like I’m actually doing things again.
“Next it’s static bowling on a Bosu Ball, where you load yourself up and get the body ready to start doing drills in the nets that you do without a ball. When I start getting back into the nets, that’s when it will become enjoyable.
“It’s going to be a long winter of hard work, but hopefully worth it when February comes around and I’m bowling properly and ready to go.”
Footitt returned to the Club in July after leaving Surrey and played one Specsavers County Championship against former side Derbyshire, taking 2-49 in each innings.
It was in that match that he realised he had an issue with his neck, initially believing that the pain stemmed from feeling unwell.
He said: “I was poorly during the game and at first I put it down to that. I had some paracetamol and Lemsip and just carried on playing.
“I then played a second team game at Swarkestone when it came on a bit more and then I woke up one morning soon after that and I couldn’t move my neck.
“That’s when I went to see our physio James Pipe and we tried to get it to settle down and it didn’t really and I couldn’t bowl how I could bowl.
“The injury had never been seen by anyone before who looked at it.”
“The next thing then was to have a scan and that’s when they found the injury, which had never been seen by anyone before who looked at it.
“At first it was quite worrying because you think ‘if it’s not been seen before, how do you fix it?’ You search on Google and start panicking… ‘Could it be this? Could it be that?’ But it’s basically been treated the same as a back stress fracture, so a bit of rest, which came at the right time in the off season.
“I could have played in the last few games, but then you wonder if you are doing the team justice by playing when you are only 80 per cent fit, even though we didn’t have many bowlers at that time.”
One welcome distraction for Footitt, who lives in Mansfield, was his wedding at Swancar Farm just outside of Wollaton on 22 October.
A honeymoon with new wife Kirsty and six-year-old daughter Heidi followed, enabling him to get away from all things cricket for a while.
“If nothing else had been happening in the whole of October, then I’d have been tempted to push too hard, too soon in terms of coming back,” said Footitt.
“But with having a stag do, getting married and going on a honeymoon, it’s taken my mind off it – although it’s probably not the best October to not be doing anything given all the food you are eating!
“It probably helped my recovery because you relax and enjoy yourself instead of being uptight and worrying if you’re doing anything right.
“Heidi came with us on honeymoon to Mexico and it was nice to have a proper holiday for a week. The weather was nice too which helped with the heeling instead of being freezing cold at home.”
Footitt has so far taken 345 first-class wickets at an average of 25.77 and is eager to add to that tally in 2018, having returned to his roots and the Club where he came through as a junior before leaving for Derbyshire in 2009.
He started out at Kimberley as a youngster and played in the Nottinghamshire Premier League for the likes of Papplewick & Linby in making his way up into the professional ranks, earning himself the reputation of being a genuinely quick bowler.
“It felt like I had come home when I re-signed.”
He said: “Since I have been back I have not played a game at Trent Bridge yet, and I’m massively looking forward to that.
“It is where I started and it felt like the first time I was here I never got going the first time. Sometimes in life you have to move away from places that you love to be at in order to be successful, not knowing if you’ll be able to come back.
“It felt like I had come home when I re-signed and in the back of my mind it’s what I always hoped would happen one day. It’s my home county, so as soon as they came knocking, I was delighted to sign.
“I want to go out there and prove to the other players and the fans that I can go out and do well for the Club.”
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