Richardson 'not counting out the Ashes' but faces race to be fit for summer

Jhye Richardson's hopes of playing any part in the Ashes appear slim after he only bowled for the first time since his most recent shoulder surgery on Tuesday, but he remains optimistic with the start of the Sheffield Shield season just seven weeks away.

Richardson, 28, underwent a third surgery on his right bowling shoulder in January in a bid to end the repeated dislocations he was suffering and also put himself in the frame to be fully fit for the Ashes series which starts on November 21.

He has not played Test cricket since the last Ashes series in Australia when he took his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests to seal victory in Adelaide. He has had a torrid run with injury since then, including having hamstring surgery in 2024, and has also dealt with mental health issues. He has played just four first-class matches since his last Test, with his his most recent coming in November last year when he dislocated his shoulder while high-fiving a team-mate.

Speaking in Perth on Wednesday at an event to mark 100 days to go before the Perth Ashes Test, Richardson revealed he bowled for the first time the day before but conceded the Ashes were a long way off.

"Some were good, some were bad and some hit the side net and things like that. I was a little bit rusty but it's good signs," Richardson said. "We're hitting the milestones that we planned out at the start and while it has been really slow, things are looking good.

"As nice as it would be [to play in the Ashes], there is a lot of water to go under the bridge before then. We're not counting out Ashes cricket, but there's a long process that has started and has been ongoing and there is a lot to go through before then. Things are looking good for the summer and I should be up and ready to go."

However, Richardson could not definitely say when he would be able to return to play for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield but he hoped he could feature in some domestic cricket before the start of the Ashes. WA's first One-Day Cup match is on September 21 before a tantalising opening Shield match against New South Wales at the WACA ground that will feature Sam Konstas and possibly Cameron Green if he is rested from Australia's T20I series in New Zealand in order to bowl for the first-time in red-ball cricket after a long layoff following his back injury.

"These are still ongoing conversations," Richardson said. "Things that you don't necessarily plan for can pop up, you can plateau a little bit in terms of progress.

"Shield cricket is definitely on the radar, whether it's game one, two, three, four, five, six, whichever it is, I'm hoping there will be some Shield cricket at some stage and hopefully some cricket for Fremantle and some second XI cricket amongst that as well."

"I think white-ball cricket is always good to build the loads for red-ball cricket. We know that bowling 10 overs at high intensity really helps. And match time is something that you can't necessarily get in the nets. We know that that intensity is going to be important, so I'd say there'd be some white-ball cricket."

Even if Richardson were fit, he would remain behind Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland in the pecking order. But the lure of his red-ball skills are so strong that Australia's selectors added him to the squad for the Melbourne and Sydney Tests against India last summer when Hazlewood was injured, despite clear issues with his shoulder following his only first-class game that summer.

The age profile of Australia's current quartet and the next best red-ball options beyond them is partly why Richardson is so alluring. Recent Test squad members Sean Abbott, 33, and Brendan Doggett, 31, would be seen as more short-term prospects for Australia's Test side if and when any of the incumbent quartet finish up. Michael Neser remains a ready-made replacement for the upcoming summer but is 35 and injured his hamstring badly last summer.

Lance Morris, 27, has long been earmarked as a possible long-term replacement for Starc as Test strike weapon but he has just been ruled out of the ODI series against South Africa with back soreness which will also put his Australia A tour of India in jeopardy. Xavier Bartlett (26) and Fergus O'Neill (24) will tour India with Australia A but neither have the speed and x-factor that Richardson offers in full flight.

The other major issue for Richardson is that he has been unable to fully contribute in the field for six years since his initial shoulder dislocation in the UAE in 2019. He was once a speedy live-wire in the outfield with a very strong arm but he has barely been able to throw since the injury and has often had to hide in the field because of his inability to dive with freedom and the fact that he mainly underarms or bowls the ball in. The latest surgery was in part a last ditch effort to get his shoulder back to a place where could throw normally again but he said that process would take much longer to come to fruition than his bowling.

"The way that it's presenting at the moment is that it is presenting stable, which is obviously a nice feeling after all the issues that I've dealt with over the last few years," Richardson said. "Throwing is going to be unknown. We know that. It's obviously a long process to get back, sort of 12-18 months plus to know where it's really going to be at. But at this stage seven months post surgery, things are looking good."