Jason Behrendorff considering undergoing surgery to resolve persistent back issues

Australian fast bowler Jason Behrendorff had a very good ICC World Cup 2019, picking a five-wicket haul against England at Lord’s as the hosts were beaten by their arch-rivals. However, the left-arm bowler is currently fighting fitness issues after being ruled out of cricket for an indefinite period of time. He returned from a short Vitality T20 Blast stint with Sussex recently.

The 29-year-old left-arm quick has played 11 ODIs for Australia picking 16 wickets with a best of 5/44 and 7 T20I games, getting 7 wickets with a best of 4/21. He also turned out for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2019 playing five games and picking five wickets. His Vitality T20 blast stint came to an end after experiencing soreness in the back and scans confirmed it was connected to the repeated stress fractures he has suffered in the past.

Behrendorff considers having same back surgery as Pattinson to get rid of back pain

Behrendorff was managing his back issues for the past two years or so. This included stepping away from first-class cricket and concentrating on limited-overs games only. He will miss the Marsh One-Day Cup, even as Western Australia and Cricket Australia medical staff are considering all options, including surgery as well, apart from resting before the BBL 2019-20.

If the quick bowler opts for back surgery, he might head to New Zealand soon to consult with Christchurch-based surgeon Grahame Inglis, who performed the surgery on both Bond and Pattinson. Both bowlers were able to return to cricket in a full-time capacity and Behrendorff may be able to play all the three formats. However, such a surgery has a recovery time of 9-12 months, which brings the T20 World Cup 2020 in consideration as well.

The surgery involves fusing screws and a titanium cable into the lower spine to stabilize the stress fracture which would not heal conventionally as per ESPNcricinfo. Kiwi pacer Shane Bond had this surgery in 2004 and it enabled him to play for six more years, finally calling it quits in 2010. James Pattinson also had this surgery in 2014, when his career could have come to an end when he was 27. He made an amazing recovery to come back and play for Australia in the recent Ashes.

Behrendorff last played for Western Australia in a first-class game in November 2017. He has 126 wickets at an average of 23.85 for WA and took 40 wickets in 2013-14 Sheffield Shield season, leading him to be named Australia’s domestic player of the year in January 2015.

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