‘Feeling Strong’ – Glenn Phillips Weighs Caution in Return from Injury

The star all-rounder of New Zealand, Glenn Phillips, is confident of making a comeback to professional cricket. He is feeling strong again after completing the rehab, but cautions that he will not rush anything. He is currently focusing on a step-by-step approach to make a comeback, which is why he wants to manage his workload carefully.

Glenn Phillips has not played any competitive cricket since he suffered a groin injury while playing the final of Major League Cricket (MLC) in July. It was a tough blow for the Black Caps all-rounder, which forced him to stay away from professional cricket for some time.

Speaking about his comeback, Phillips said that he plans to return to professional cricket at some stage, though currently he is just focusing on taking one step at a time.

"Yeah, obviously when you do both groins the rehab and recovery is a little bit longer, so I guess things are coming along really nicely. I'm feeling really strong and now it's just about loading it up and getting ready to play at some stage." said Glenn Phillips.

He further said that returning to cricket requires him to be fully fit. Although he wants to rejoin the national fold sooner rather than later, the reality of recovery often tells a different story. With that in mind, it is important for him to take small steps toward recovery carefully, as he does not want to rush anything.

"Obviously, we would always like to be back sooner rather than later, but at the end of the day it's really just around the loading side of things. Once my leg has been loaded enough to be able to perform the way that I do in the field is the main thing. I guess it comes down to if I give everything 100% and if at 100% I'm a little bit weak then we're not ready to go, so we'll just wait until that stage." said Glenn Phillips.

The star all-rounder further said that before returning to international cricket, he will first test his form in the domestic circuit. Currently, he plans to feature for his domestic team, Otago Volts, in the upcoming matches, as this will give him an initial assessment of his form and fitness.

"At this stage no date in mind, we're just seeing things as we go and I'd imagine it'll be for Otago before coming back to the Black Caps side of things. You definitely need to test things in an environment before going to the international scene. Obviously when you play in international cricket you're required to give as much as you possibly can in each game, and until I'm ready to do that we'll keep loading as we go.” said Glenn Phillips.

The Black Caps all-rounder is set to meet his teammates in Dunedin on Wednesday. He is excited to meet the group again, saying that he shares a strong bond with the team, as they usually travel together during international tours.

"Yeah, it's great, it [Dunedin] is obviously a little bit of a home, so I'm feeling with the boys here and getting back to see guys that I haven't seen in a while. You know we go around the world quite often and meet different boys and different teams, but to come back here it does give that sense of home and that sense of belonging with a family that you know." said Glenn Phillips.

Speaking about the rise of his Otago teammate Jacob Duffy, Glenn Phillips said that he is proud of how Duffy has quickly evolved in international cricket. He praised the work ethics of Jacob Duffy, saying that he always works hard in the nets to continuously improve his bowling.

"Yeah he [Duffy] has been fantastic. He talks about trying to get the ball up there and swinging it and doing what he does best and I think he's done that fantastically over the summer and also the last summer as well. He works so hard the whole time through and he's got a lot of variations he's constantly trying to get better and I think that comes forward in the games.” said Glenn Phillips.