“My recovery is going well but it is taking a little longer than I expected it to”
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
South Africa pace maestro Dale Steyn has been ruled out of the Proteas’ tour of England, which begins next week, as he is still recovering from shoulder surgery.
Steyn has been sidelined ever since he went under the knife following a “fracture of the bone in the shoulder joint”, which occurred while he was bowling in a Test match against Australia in November last year.
Steyn was supposed to represent South Africa A in two four-day games in the UK, but that will no longer happen as he has opted to continue his rehabilitation.
“My recovery is going well but it is taking a little longer than I expected it to,” Steyn said at the Cricket South Africa Annual Awards Dinner on Saturday. “I am able to do a lot of things, like running, hiking and gym work, but bowling is not one of them, and I won’t be ready in time.”
With the 33-year-old still out of action, he is aiming to make his international comeback when South Africa take on Bangladesh in September-October.
However, since he knows that he is in need of match practice, Steyn revealed that he may consider joining a county team for a short stint.
The other option is to play for South Africa A in their limited overs tournament against India A and Australia A.
“Obviously, one of the reasons for me playing with the A side was so that I could get some match fitness before the Tests. So, before that Bangladesh series, I will need to play a bit,” Steyn said. “In a way it could be quite funny – South Africa will be playing a Test series in England and maybe at some ground down the road, Dale Steyn will be playing for another team.”
While Steyn feels no pain in his shoulder while “doing normal things”, he revealed that he plans to gradually work his way back to bowling at full speed.
“We have to understand that fast bowling is not something normal people do, so it’s going to take time,” he said. “Normal people do things mostly below the shoulder line; it’s unusual to have something above the line except for things like bowling and tennis. I just have to be patient.”