It’s been a year since Matt Fisher’s Test debut against the West Indies in Barbados. In many ways, this unique performance sums up the promise and frustrations that have marked his career since he made his Yorkshire debut at the age of 17. 8 years ago.
Fisher showed his wicket threat by dismissing John Campbell for the second ball in the Test, but on a flat Bridgetown deck it was the only break in 27 overs from Hard yakka. And like many of his fast bowling buddies, he succumbed to a stress fracture before opening his chances in the English summer.
To add that to the list, Fisher’s career so far has been a series of setbacks, from hamstring and side strains to broken thumbs and dislocated shoulders. Still, as he prepares for his tour of Sri Lanka his England his Lions this week, he’s determined not to dwell on his misfortunes, instead embracing his life spent in rehab over the past year. I would like to introduce my work. “I had a few days where I was depressed and really upset, but soon I was back to thinking, ‘What can I do?’ and ‘How can I fix this?’ How can I do better next time?” says. .
Whether the 25-year-old Fisher can prove his eligibility for the test is still a matter of time. Specifically, we added mass to the previously supple frame and added 5kg of muscle to provide a more robust product for selectors to consider for the 2023 season.
“When I literally looked in the mirror, I didn’t seem as resilient as some players I’ve seen this winter. “I basically said to the S&C [strength and conditioning coach], ‘I want you to look like a fast Australian bowler.’ Cummins, Hazelwood, Stark, they all look pretty strong.”
“I ate a lot in his first three months,” he adds. “It wasn’t Massy’s [McDonald’s] or anything like that, but that’s what happens when you eat more than you can eat, build muscle, and start playing or bowling again. Fall out of what it did.”
“Sometimes in our sport we think too much about skin folds. A lot of athletes are afraid to be thin enough. My goal is to build muscle and that is the best way to gain weight and muscle. I was exercising a lot back then, so I didn’t gain a lot of weight.
“All summer long my Yorkshire coach and some of the players were saying ‘damn you’re big’. I got a little bigger around my chest and then my legs.”
A sturdy frame is just one element of Fisher’s desire to fulfill. He also tinkers with his technique in his spare time to reduce the inevitable stress on the body that fast bowling brings.
“I tried to be a little straighter on the contact of the hindfoot,” he says. “The back leg turned sideways so it’s fine, but the legs crossed a bit. Now they’re coming down in a straight line and my back leg is pointing towards the thin leg instead of the deep middle.”
“When it lands, it’s straighter all the way, so instead of bending sideways to one side of your hips, bend forward from your hips across both hips. During the action, you’ll start to fall, putting a lot of strain on your hips.” The left side of your back where I had a stress fracture.Basically you’re trying to straighten your leg more and hopefully get the ball straighter and higher when you release it. increase.
“That is just me looking at my own action and thinking obviously my side flexion is not very good and how can I get it more straight. That was just me looking at my action and working on it with Kabir [Ali] and Gibbo [Otis Gibson] at Yorkshire.”
In terms of role models, Fisher has a fair few – including Darren Gough, Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn – but the current quick who gives him the most to emulate, he says, is South Africa’s quickest bowler, Anrich Nortje.
“In the first two weeks after my injury, I looked at so many different actions of some of the best bowlers to have ever bowled,” he says. “I don’t want mine to look like this person because he’s the quickest or he’s rapid, but I want mine to look more like Nortje. It’s technically very good, but it’s his back-foot contact that I’ve tried to model myself on, because I thought that’s what I want it to look like.”
As for James Anderson – the man whose place Fisher took for that tour of the Caribbean, but who bounced back in the summer to return to the top of his game even after his 40th birthday – Fisher acknowledges that the methods that have proven so durable in Anderson’s matchless career are perhaps not the ones for him to emulate. “I love Jimmy and I love watching him throw the ball, but I was so obsessed with moving sideways and swinging a little more that I crossed my legs. I, who was trying to do so, put myself in a worse position.
“Looking back, I was shaking it instead of sideways, so it was off my wrist more than anything else. These are things I learned, so hopefully I’ll be more technically aware of what I’m doing.” I hope that I will be able to do it.” You should learn while you are young. “
“When it lands, it’s much straighter, so instead of bending sideways to one side of your hips, you bend forward from your hips across both hips. During the action, you start to fall over, putting a lot of strain on your lower back.” The left side of your back with a stress fracture. Basically, you’re trying to straighten your leg more, and hopefully straighten it away from the top of the ball when you release it.
“That is just me looking at my own action and thinking obviously my side flexion is not very good and how can I get it more straight. That was just me looking at my action and working on it with Kabir [Ali] and Gibbo [Otis Gibson] at Yorkshire.”
In terms of role models, Fisher has a fair few – including Darren Gough, Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn – but the current quick who gives him the most to emulate, he says, is South Africa’s quickest bowler, Anrich Nortje.
“In the first two weeks after my injury, I looked at so many different actions of some of the best bowlers to have ever bowled,” he says. “I don’t want mine to look like this person because he’s the quickest or he’s rapid, but I want mine to look more like Nortje. It’s technically very good, but it’s his back-foot contact that I’ve tried to model myself on, because I thought that’s what I want it to look like.”
As for James Anderson – the man whose place Fisher took for that tour of the Caribbean, but who bounced back in the summer to return to the top of his game even after his 40th birthday – Fisher acknowledges that the methods that have proven so durable in Anderson’s matchless career are perhaps not the ones for him to emulate. “I love Jimmy and I love watching him bowl, but I was so obsessed with moving sideways and swinging a little more that I crossed my legs. That also put me in a worse position.
“Looking back, I was shaking not sideways, so it was off my wrist more than anything else. These are things I learned, so hopefully, if anything, what I’m doing I hope I’ve become more technically aware.” Better learn while you’re young. “
Despite all the positives Fisher has gotten from rehab, 2022 frustrations remain. In particular, he was unable to prevent Yorkshire from being relegated from his flight to the top of the Championship after Warwickshire made a thrilling escape on the final day. He also had to watch from a distance England’s test standards soar under Brendon McCallum and Ben Stokes.
“It looks like a lot of fun, so I just want to be there,” Fischer said after interacting with his team at the Lions training camp in Abu Dhabi before Christmas.
“The UAE Tour has been really good for us. They want us to play like the England team, but they want us to work on our strengths. Give your players freedom and confidence and just have fun, try to put pressure on the team you are playing against.”
It remains to be seen how much attention Fischer will have in the heads of selectors, but until it’s determined his rehab isn’t going far enough, we’ve got a few things to say about him representing Mark Wood in Pakistan last winter. Since then, Jamie Overton (another debutant in 2022) has of course suffered from stress fractures of his own, but Ollie Stone, Geoffra The return of Archer Saqib Mahmood suggests a promising pool of quick options for Summer of Ash.
“You can’t really control where you are in the pecking order, so for me it’s just about bowling well and knowing how fast it goes,” Fisher says. to it someday.
“I had an indoor session with David Warner visualizing bowling, so it’s definitely in my head. When it happens, it happens. For me it’s good bowling for Yorkshire and I hope we get another chance one day. ”