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Get fit soon, Dale Steyn

Cricket needs Dale Steyn back. (AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE)
Roar Guru
7th January, 2018
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Fearsome South African bowler Dale Steyn is a keen fisherman – so much so that he and fellow fast bowler Morne Morkel are known to discuss fishing in the midst of their bowling spells to keep themselves calm. Among various injuries he has had throughout his career is a freak injury while fishing in Zimbabwe.

That was not serious, but the shoulder injury suffered by Steyn 13 months ago in Perth while playing Australia was extremely severe and potentially career-threatening. It was also very rare, with only one documented case – an unnamed 27-year-old bowler from Staffordshire – of any cricketer having such an injury.

It had been estimated that Steyn would be out of action for at least six months, but in fact it became 13 months before Steyn returned to Test action in the first Test of the 2018 South Africa vs India tour.

It didn’t seem that he had been inactive for 13 months, however. Steyn bowled with his characteristic pace and hostility while picking up the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan and Wriddhiman Saha. Unfortunately while he was bowling his 18th over he sustained tissue damage to his left heel, ruling him out of the first Test and the entire series as well.

This latest injury is a huge blow not only to Steyn and the South African team but also to millions of his fans throughout the world. For the last several years Steyn has been the perfect example of what a dynamic fast bowler should be: aggressive, fast, hostile and assertive.

(AFP Photo / Alexander Joe)

While his peers have often depended on favourable conditions, Steyn made his own rules. Even in the most unhelpful conditions he has proved to be a matchwinner for his team. He has had brilliant spells in places like Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Colombo, Galle and Karachi, where fast bowlers usually tear their hair out in frustration. 

Steyn as a fast bowler has numerous achievements. He is the only fast bowler to have a five-wicket haul against all Test-playing nations. Among bowlers crossing 200 Test wickets he is the only one with a strike rate of below 42, with the next being Pakistani great Waqar Younus with a strike rate of 43.4.

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Steyn reached his 400th Test wicket in only his 80th Test, the same as the great Sir Richard Hadlee. Only Sri Lankan off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, with 400 wickets in 72 Tests, is ahead of them. 

The latest injury is not the first major injury suffered by Steyn in his illustrious career. In November 2015, prior to his shoulder injury in Australia, he suffered a groin injury in the first Test of a series in India, and in December 2015 he suffered a shoulder injury in England.

It’s quite worryingly for South Africa as he’s played in only six of their last 27 Tests and has broken down in four of them. 

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South African bowling great Allan Donald had formed part of a deadly pace trio with Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini, and they had taken a combined tally of more than 1100 Test wickets. Yet Donald in 2012 had termed the South African pace trio of Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander as the best ever produced by South Africa.

This fearsome attack has incredibly been enhanced further with the addition of Kagiso Rabada, nicknamed ‘giraffe’. The trio is now a quartet, and in fact its the first time since Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Colin Croft that any team has played a four-man pace attack with all four bowlers taking more than 100 Test wickets each. 

But will this deadly quartet continue? Will Steyn make yet another comeback from injury? Team management insists his recovery time is four to six weeks, which means he’ll be fit in time for the much-awaited South Africa vs Australia Test series in March.

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South African team management will want him back, as will Test match lovers throughout the world, as it will be a series between two teams featuring terrific pace attacks, with Australia boasting Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and with James Pattinson hopefully being fit too. What a treat it would be for cricket fans.

Get fit soon, Dale Steyn. The world of cricket would like you to be fit and strong for some time more.

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