Casson's challenges greater than most

Beau Casson could make his Test debut for Australia next week and to get to this stage he has had to deal with more issues than most cricketers, as Chloe Saltau writes in the Age.

Casson was born with a congenital heart defect known as Fallot's syndrome. The condition makes it difficult for him to lower his heart rate after extended periods of physical exertion, and has prompted three open heart operations. He works to a modified training program, in which he is granted extra time to recover from exercise. He is monitored regularly.

But that's it. In every other aspect of his life and career, Casson feels in no way different to his cricketing contemporaries. And if, as expected, the national selectors bestow upon him the honour of becoming Australia's 401st Test cricketer for the third Test in Barbados, the 25-year-old expects no problem from his ticker, and no special treatment from his teammates, opponents or public.