England call-up a reward for Shahzad after injury nightmare (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

England call-up a reward for Shahzad after injury nightmare

2:40pm Wednesday 20th January 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale has pointed to Ajmal Shahzad’s determination to put a long list of injuries behind him as one of the main reasons for the pace bowler’s England call-up.

Earlier this week, 24-year-old Shahzad was awarded a place on the plane for next month’s tours of the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh.

He impressed during the ECB’s Performance Programme camp in South Africa, as well as enjoying his best domestic season in 2009 with 40 wickets and 445 runs in the County Championship.

Shahzad, formerly of Bradford League side Windhill, played 13 four-day matches for Yorkshire last summer and there were no signs of the injuries that have plagued him since making his debut for the club in 2004.

Gale said: “He’s got a lot of desire. He had a great year last year and he has worked really hard. I think he’s probably two or three yards quicker now than he was.

“He’s had injuries in the past but he’s worked hard on the core of the body, doing quite a lot of strength and conditioning work.”

Shahzad’s list of injuries does not quite compare with that of a footballer such as Darren Anderton – or even a cricketer such as the man he is looking to emulate, former Test star Andrew Flintoff – but Shahzad is still no stranger to the treatment table.

Back problems dogged him shortly after his county debut and it was more than two years before he played a competitive first-team game for the Tykes.

A side strain kept him out of the latter part of 2006, while a torn hamstring hampered his progress at a similar stage of the season in 2008.

“I’ve always been quite a big lad and when I was in the gym I was getting quite bulky, which didn’t help my bowling,” said Shahzad.

“But over the last few years I’ve worked quite hard on my fitness, doing a lot of strength and conditioning work with the fitness trainers at Yorkshire. It has really helped me to get to where I am now.”