C Bryden: New exercises exorcise Jonty's spectre of hamstring injury (17 Aug 1997)

August 17 1997

New exercises exorcise Jonty's spectre of hamstring injury

by Colin Bryden

WINNING back a regular permanent place in the South African Test side is the only pressure Jonty Rhodes wants to handle next season.

"Being kept out of the side because someone else is playing better is one thing," says Rhodes, "but giving your place away because you're injured is really frustrating."

Thanks to what is being claimed as a breakthrough discovery in preventing hamstring injuries, Rhodes is hoping the problems which have disrupted his career in the past two seasons will be something of the past.

Exercise scientist Justin Durandt of the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town is the man credited with devising tests and exercises to minimise one of the most common sports injuries.

Rhodes has learned that his explosive speed is a double-edged sword. While it indicates tremendous thigh muscle strength it can trigger a reaction which results in injury.

"There are various ratios between the quadroceps (front thigh muscles) and the hamstrings. If they get out of balance it can cause problems," says Durandt, who works at the Institute under the direction of sports medicine specialist Professor Tim Noakes.

Durandt explained that if a sportsman sprints and stretches his quadroceps, the hamstring is responsible for slowing down the leg. It is a case of action and reaction. As one muscle extends, another contracts.

Tests performed on the national cricket squad showed that Rhodes and Shaun Pollock were particularly susceptible to hamstring injuries. Both had problems last season. They were given special exercises to work on during the winter.

"We're looking forward to them reporting back at the institute on September 1 to see how successful the exercises have been," said Noakes.

Rhodes says he is optimistic. "I've been going to the gym four or five times a week for the past two or three months. It's something you can't do during the season and I definitely feel a lot stronger."

The past two seasons have brought more than their fair share of frustrations to the 28-year-old Rhodes. After showing excellent form in the early matches of the 1996 World Cup in Pakistan, he suffered a hamstring injury in the course of winning the man of the match award against England and had to miss two matches. Although he played in the quarterfinal defeat against the West Indies he was not his usual dazzling self in the field. He recovered in time to play in the Sharjah Cup the following month but suffered a recurrence of the injury and missed the final.

Last season Rhodes suffered a severe hamstring injury during the first Test against India in Ahmedabad and had to return home. It ended a sequence of 28 successive Test appearances. Already under pressure because of an inconsistent record and a batting average barely above 30, Rhodes only played in one further Test during the summer, against Australia when Brian McMillan was unavailable. Scores of 22 and eight did nothing to secure his place.

Ironically, though, it was Rhodes' best season in first class cricket. He averaged 89,83 in the Supersport Series and had a sequence of three successive centuries for Natal.

His selection ahead of Herschelle Gibbs for the tour of Pakistan at the end of next month unleashed a storm of controversy. His value as a one-day player is unquestioned but a three-match Test series will be the main focus on the tour. Quite where Rhodes could fit into a Test line-up is not obvious. His best hope will be if Brian McMillan continues to bat at number three, as he did in the last Test against Australia, in which case Rhodes will vie with Jacques Kallis for the number six place. The selectors may well opt for McMillan lower in the order, however, with Andrew Hudson back in favour as an opening batsman and Adam Bacher having done at least enough against Australia to deserve inclusion. If Hudson and Gary Kirsten open, Bacher would be the logical number three.

With only one warm-up match before the first Test, Rhodes may well find himself on the sidelines for much of the tour but he says: "I really enjoyed the way I was batting last season. Now I want to take every opportunity to show what I can do. It is something to make me work harder."

Hopefully without any twinges in the back of his thighs.

Source: The Sunday Times