A successful athlete is one who is determined towards a goal and takes every obstacle as a new challenge kept ahead of him. However, the one word that scares each and every sports person is injury. A term which can occur in a matter of seconds forcing you to stay out of the game with the nature of the injury determining the recovery time period, but it said that an injury makes an athlete stronger than ever and if you are determined, the pain it brings can’t stop you from achieving your goal.
A true display of this fighting spirit was shown by New Zealand’s Rachel Priest during the seventh edition of Women’s Big Bash League which is currently underway. Captaining the Hobart Hurricanes, Priest started the season well after scoring an unbeaten 107 off 68 balls in the third match that her team played. However, since just a week after that, the season has been a painful one for the former White Fern player (she retired from international cricket 2020).
Keeping the charge from behind the stumps as well, Priest was struck on the gloves and broke her index finger off a ball from her teammate Tayla Vlaeminck who happens to be the fastest bowler of the tournament. Despite being in severe pain and barely being able to train, Priest didn’t back out from the tournament, got regular scans done to ensure there was no further damage to the finger. Had she pulled out, it would have been difficult for the Hurricanes to manage an overseas replacement given Australia’s strict quarantine rules. The determination she showed received appreciation from many. Though she did struggle a lot throughout the league, managing to get just 262 runs from her 13 innings this season.
The Hurricanes played their last game of the season today against Sydney Thunder. Though they won, the victory wasn’t enough to take them to the knockout phase as they finished their season with 11 points. Though, it wasn’t a good end to the campaign for Priest as she ended with two consecutive ducks.
In a conversation with cricket.com.au, in regard to the scan, Priest said, “When I first did it, I basically knew straight away it was broken, I just had to find out how bad the break was,”.
Further adding, “We spoke to the doctor, and she said it was all good to keep playing if I wanted to and if I was able to.
“We’ve been managing it by getting x-rays and checking that the bone isn’t moving around.
“It’s just a painful thing – I haven’t done a whole heap of training since I did it because I just can’t really get through it, to be honest, so I’ve basically have just been saving myself for the games.
“I’ve been really lucky so far that I haven’t had another serious hit on it, and I think it just makes me watch the ball even harder because I know I have to catch it really carefully.”
Hope the broken finger recovers soon and Priest gets fit to represent Tasmanian Tigers in Australia’s Women National Cricket League (WNCL) which starts next month.
Source: cricket.com.au
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