South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje has been ruled out for an unspecified period after medical scans picked up another stress reaction in his back. The 31-year-old was left out of next month’s T20 tri-series in Zimbabwe and has withdrawn from Major League Cricket, where he had been due to turn out for Los Angeles Knight Riders. His only competitive outings this year were two early-season matches for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.
Head coach Shukri Conrad confirmed that team doctors are still gauging the damage.
“We will have to see the length of the time that he will be out and the extent of the injury. I really feel for him,” Conrad said. “He is a superstar fast bowler and having to deal with setback after setback can’t be easy. We will wait to see how serious it is.”
Nortje’s back has troubled him before. The latest scan is understood to show the second, possibly third, stress reaction in the same area. Such reactions are small cracks caused by repeated loading rather than a single impact; they often require weeks, sometimes months, of rest and a careful build-up of bowling workloads.
“Naturally we are worried. In Anrich’s case this is the second or third stress reaction in his back. It is too early to make a diagnosis and we are definitely not drawing a line through this name. He is 31 years old and we are going to give him every chance to come back. We will have to see what the medical team think is the best way forward,” Conrad added.
The timing is awkward for both player and selectors. Nortje relinquished a central contract last winter to focus on short-form cricket, a decision that effectively ruled him out of the Test side for now. Since then he has fractured a toe, missed the home T20Is against Pakistan, and sat out the Champions Trophy because of another back issue. Each return has been brief.
From a squad-balance perspective, South Africa still have high-pace options in Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee and Lungi Ngidi, but Nortje’s ability to hit 150 km/h and his late-innings yorkers remain hard to replicate. The medical staff will now map out a graduated rehabilitation plan; stress injuries permit no shortcuts.
For Nortje the immediate task is rest, followed by the slow, repetitive work of core strengthening and straight-line running before any thought of a return to the crease. Given the nature of the injury, there is no formal timetable, though officials privately hope he could be bowling again by the southern-hemisphere summer if all goes well.
Conrad’s closing words sum up the mood: South Africa want their quickest bowler back, but not at the cost of a permanent breakdown. In the meantime the selectors may be tempted to look at domestic stand-outs for the triangular tour, just in case the wait extends longer than hoped.
