The Botox strengthens his shoulder and the Achilles of someone else holding his chest – Josh Tongue looks like a contemporary Frankenstein monster.
The history of language injuries look like medical conditions, but with rapid bowling rivals in England with their own failing body parts, a timely return of a 17 -month absence left it well placed to add to its two test ceilings this summer.
It was so long since the absence of 27 years had made his debut that for Nottinghamshire – the county for which he had signed in 2023 Ashes – a fortnight ago.
Meeting time lost, its five -round transport in the second rounds plunged Durham to defeat.
Above all, there was no undesirable reaction to complex surgery to repair a broken right pectoral muscle or the tear of the hamstrings who abandoned a return last summer.
“Passing this workload in the first week was a very good thing for me mentally, knowing that I can trust my body again,” said Tongue. “The only thing I want to think about is how I will get the striker out of the other end.”
Josh Tongue’s injury history resemble an AZ of medical conditions, but he compensates for the time lost and is well placed to add to his two test caps in England this summer
There was no undesirable reaction to complex surgery to repair a broken right pectoral muscle or the tear of the hamstrings who abandoned a return last summer
The absence of the 27 -year -old woman had so long that he had only made his debut for Nottinghamshire – the county for which he had signed in 2023 Ashes – there are fifteen
Language had a lot of out -of -field problems to contemplate.
He was so bad his episode of the chest exit syndrome – a condition in which the nerves or blood vessels between the neck and the shoulder are compressed, triggering intense pressure and pain – that he considered retirement at 25.
Botox injections, a last resort, saved his career.
“I was very close to hanging up the boots. I spoke to the professional association of cricket players to get help, to talk about insurance, to all these kinds of things, then the little Botox helped me bring back to the park and it was an incredible year for me after that, “he thinks.
“This chest exit syndrome will always be there, but I have the little remedy now, which I can have if necessary. If I feel this feeling dead in my arm or if my fingers are turning cold or a little purple, I can have an injection. Touch Wood, I haven’t had it since the return of Sri Lanka in 2023. ”
Then, a PEC injury suffered during the hundred in August 2023 took a turn for the three months later.
“I came back in November, I did a lions camp in England in Abu Dhabi, but obviously it was a little too early. I broke the PEC, about the bone, ”he explains.
An operation failed, so the surgeons returned to an Achilles tendon allogreffe, using an Achilles tendon of an American donor to recreate the major pectoral tendon.
Language seems to be a shoo-in for ashes in 2025-26 provided that it can remain in shape
His long -awaited return to a team from England could now come next month
“This is a pretty bizarre thing, but it holds everything together,” said Tongue, when he tracks a period that saw him vacation in Barcelona and Cyprus and the teammates to fight Jack Haynes and Dillon Pennington on Call of Duty and Fifa between rehabilitation commitments.
“Then, making a small sprint session, my hamstrings went. It was very cruel to put this in addition to what I dealt with last year.
Such unhappy fortune had the impact of the language a fortnight against Durham all the sweeter, especially with the ashes to come this winter. Tongue became familiar with conditions under her second tour in England Lions earlier this year and appears a shoo-in for the main event in 2025-2026 if he can remain in good shape.
He says he learned “ not to play the same ball at each ball because it becomes easier for the strikers to line up, and that means using the fold, a flickering seam of bowling, coming around the counter, trying my short things and trying not to be predictable ”.
With Mark Wood and Olly Stone injured until August and the start of Chris Woake’s season delayed by an ankle problem, Tongue’s return to a team from England could arrive next month for the four -day test with Zimbabwe in Nottingham.
But the language is prudent, adding: “ I have the impression of coming back where I was in 2023, trying to be more consistent, hitting things from the first ball, not the ball 15. The more I get back under my assets, because he showed it in the first match at Trent Bridge, the better I will get.
“But my main goal is to stay on the park, to do well for Notts, then to see where the year leads me. There are massive series for England to come, but I try to think in the present, not for the future.
