England star Jonny Bairstow is set to return to international cricket after eight months on the sidelines due to a horrific leg injury.
Jonny Bairstow grabbed all the headlines when England announced their squad for the one-off Test against Ireland, with the wicket-keeper batter returning after an eight-month layoff just in time for the Ashes.
In September 2022, Bairstow suffered a freak leg injury on the golf course and had to undergo surgery to repair a broken leg and dislocated ankle. The England star was on a dream run in Test cricket before the incident, scoring 1061 runs in 10 matches in the calendar year.
Bairstow eventually missed England's victorious T20 World Cup campaign in Australia as a result and the monumental Test series victory against Pakistan.
The journey back to cricket has been trying, as revealed by Bairstow, who recently returned to competitive cricket with Yorkshire in the County Championship.
"You wonder whether or not you'll be able to walk again, jog again, run again, play cricket again," Bairstow said. "Absolutely, those things do go through your mind.
"It depends how long you think about them. There are many different things, until you get back to playing, well… you wonder, is it going to feel the same?"
"It's quite funny, people have said, 'You're limping'. Well, I don't know anyone that's had a major lower leg injury that does walk exactly the same as previously. There are going to be little limps, there are going to be aches, pains, that's part and parcel of it. Whether it's knees, hips, ankles, lower back, whatever it is.
"When there's trauma, there's going to be an adaptation to the way that your body moves or your body walks, that's just part and parcel of it. I'm not going to be running exactly the same as last year, but that's okay."
