Australian News Lance Morris is hopeful of an early Shield return despite frustrating injury problems

“It was a bit frustrating,” Morris told ESPNcricinfo. “I think you call it a stress fracture, but when we scan it, it doesn’t have the natural characteristics of a normal stress fracture. So there was some confusion at first about what it was.

“What’s surprising to me is that I didn’t have any back pain when I was throwing. I get an MRI every month on my back to make sure things are going well. And it was clear . . . it’s healing, so that’s good.”

While he maintained his fitness levels through running and regular gym sessions, Morris was unable to do any skilled work for about eight weeks.

“It’s frustrating to be on hold for a few months. I’m at that stage of my career with the Cricket Australia contract….it’s a transition to a 12-month cricketer,” he said.

“I have been preparing to leave [to MLC]but he could not get there.

“But the main thing is that I stay healthy and I feel stronger than before. Although if I don’t pay attention to it and get on with my life, there is a good chance that I will spend 12 months away.”

Having slightly increased his bowling workload, Morris was left wondering if he could reach top speed until “full tilt” in recent weeks restored his confidence.

“The tricky thing about loading very slowly is that you have limits on how fast you can bowl at different times,” he said. “You wonder how you’re going to get back up to speed.

“But the last few weeks, the chains were off. It was good to let the ball go.”

Morris will return for Australia’s 50-over tournament starting later this month before eyeing a return to the red ball in the Sheffield Shield. Three-time defending champions Western Australia begin their Shield season against Queensland at the WACA on October 8.

“Discussions so far… it’s actually okay to start playing one-day cricket, so [I might play] one of the first two white-ball games,” said Morris with WA opening the One-Day tournament against New South Wales on September 22 before playing South Australia two days later.

“There will be a little bit of building and preparation for the Shield cricket. But I think everything is going well, I should be there for the first or second round. I’m not too sure yet, though.” I’m not far.”

There are four rounds of the Shield before the first Test in Perth. A strong base of competitive cricket could put Morris in trouble and worry about Australia’s depth behind the current pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

“I’m not expecting it at all. But if the opportunity comes, hopefully I can jump at it with both hands,” Morris said of his Test hopes. “I can stay on the park this season because I think there will be a few opportunities.”

“The rough timeline would be back to late November-early December, but that could change with the result of the scan,” Haskett told ESPNcricinfo. “I’m worried about coming off the season I had, but we will continue to work to get back on the field in the middle of the season.”