Tribute to the Physio

International cricket these days is almost as much about durability and resilience as it is about skill levels. I’ll bet if you asked any of the current crop of South African players, how many times they have lined up for a Test match fully fit, they’ll reply about 10 percent.

An essential and often overlooked cog of any elite sporting team is the physiotherapist. The work and hours that he (or she) puts in is often astronomical and sadly generally unrewarded. South Africa’s team physio Craig Smith, who took up the post when ‘Captain morgan was still a corporal,’ has been outstanding over the years and is now thought upon as part of the furniture. Stories of him treating players every 4 hours over 72 hour cycles are common and a direct reflection of his attitude and application.

There was no better example of sterling work from the ‘back up boys’ than the effort behind Steve Waugh’s rehabilitation and subsequent appearance in the final Ashes Test.

Steve rightly paid an enormous tribute to team physio Errol Alcott following the final encounter. Errol has been an institution since 1984 and carefully guided the skipper back to ‘playable’ fitness. Pundits in the know reckon he was only about 50% fit but for Steve that was good enough so it is important we don’t discount his guts and determination.

The programme that was followed to ensure Steve was calling “Don Bradman” as Nasser Hussain tossed the coin was astounding to say the least, but it worked.

They both worked flat out for 18 days following the double calf tear that ended his third Test. The sessions involved eight hours a day of treatment, manipulation and massage that totalled some 50 man-hours to the injured area. A massive amount of work in the pool followed by bike sessions plus strengthening exercises ensured their joint goal was reached. Come D-day, the final decision was left to Steve upon the advice from Errol that the muscles had healed. This was obviously no guarantee that things were not to re-occur, as we saw, but I’ll guess following his 27th Test century the pain was manageable.

Steve revealed that during his innings he developed stiffness in his right hip when he was about 25 and soon after he suffered from a continuous sharp pain that he equated to a knife being dug into his left calf. He decided not to run much after that!

157 not out was the result of all the hard graft put in by Errol and Steve and provided the opportunity for one of the gutsiest men ever to grace a cricketing field to play an Ashes Test just one more time in England.

Upon reaching three figures, Steve immediately pointed to Errol in the changeroom in a touching tribute to an unsung hero.

All in England will breath a combined sigh of relief the day that Steve retires. They must be sick to death of the sight of him - even on one leg!!!!