Nineteen-year-old Callum Vidler will miss the Australia A white-ball trip to India – and probably the opening weeks of Queensland’s season – after scans revealed a partial stress fracture in his lower back.
Queensland’s medical staff ordered the scan late last week when the right-armer felt “a bit stiff” following three T20 Max outings for Valley. The pictures showed a crack in the L3 vertebra, another entry on the lengthening injury sheet for Australian quicks.
“Callum experienced some back pain during training and promptly reported it,” Queensland high-performance boss Joe Dawes said. “Unfortunately, the scans came back confirming a stress fracture so he will spend some time recovering and then start a rehab plan. He’s naturally very disappointed but accepts that injuries are part of the game. We’ll work closely with him to ensure he has the best recovery to get him ready for a return to cricket.”
The timing is awful for player and selectors alike. Australia’s brains-trust had pencilled Vidler in for the three one-dayers in Chennai later this month, keen to accelerate a bowler who took 4 for 64 in March’s Sheffield Shield final and shone during last year’s Under-19 World Cup triumph. With Pat Cummins nursing a “hot spot” and Lance Morris booked in for back surgery, the production line has come under real strain.
Australia A have already shuffled the deck. Morris was scratched from the red-ball leg, Brody Couch – picked as cover – tweaked an oblique, and South Australian Henry Thornton has now been asked to stay on for the white-ball fixtures as well. It is, Thornton admitted on Monday, “a tour nobody wants to get selected for in this fashion”.
Closer to home, Queensland are suddenly light on new-ball options a week out from the Dean Jones Trophy. Mark Steketee and Michael Neser remain first choice, yet the back-up group is thin. Xavier Bartlett has only just resumed bowling after a side niggle; teenage left-armer Charlie Anderson is on limited workloads; Mahli Beardman is himself recovering from stress fractures. Tom Straker, the fourth member of that lauded Under-19 pace quartet, is still on the India itinerary – touch wood.
Stress fractures are hardly new in fast bowling, though the current run feels excessive. Workload spikes, heavier bats leading to longer innings, and the sheer volume of T20 competitions get tossed up as reasons. Dr John Orchard, the long-time Cricket Australia physician, summed it up last summer: “The back doesn’t care whether the overs come in whites or coloured kit – it just counts them.” Nothing has happened since to change that view.
Vidler’s rehabilitation programme will begin with a six-week rest before he is re-scanned. If the crack has knitted, he can start a graduated bowling plan; if not, the lay-off stretches. Best-case scenario puts him back around the Big Bash window, although Queensland will not push a 19-year-old who generates his pace from a supple, late snap in the action.
For the youngster it is a jolt, but not a career-altering one. Former Test quick Ryan Harris, now coaching at the Bulls, reminded him on Sunday that he himself lost two full seasons to stress fractures before a celebrated comeback. “It’s a speed-bump, mate,” Harris told him. “Annoying – but it won’t define you.”
In the meantime, selectors must juggle again. Australia A’s first 50-over match in Chennai is on 21 September; bags could yet be re-packed if there is another niggle between now and boarding. The message inside the dressing-rooms is blunt enough: bowl, report any twinge, and hope the scan is clear.
