Hastings confident his body will hold up

Cricket365
March 19, 2016

Australia fast bowler John Hastings in 30 years old but does not have as many caps as one would think, thanks to injuries over the years, but hopes his body has finally learned to cope with his job.

Hastings has only seven T20 caps heading into the World Twenty20, despite making his debut in 2010, and missed four years of international action due to a spate of injuries. He has taken his second chance with both hands, and is sure he'll stay fit this time.

Hastings said: "I think the main thing is I had a lot of injuries when I was younger. I participated in the 2011 World Cup… So I've been in the scene for a while but I've not had a lot of opportunities.

"That's because my body has let me down whether it's an ankle injury or shoulder or back or something. It's been unfortunate injuries. Some of them have been [freakish].

"But I feel now that I've played a lot of cricket, my body – touch wood – is going really well. That's probably the main factor why I'm doing better. Now I am more experienced and my body is used to bowling a little bit more now."

Aside from his body growing stronger, Duke also feels that his mind has developed, especially when it comes to playing in India. He hopes his experience with Chennai in the IPL will stand him in good stead this month.

He added: "You just have to sit down and listen to these guys speak. Being at Chennai in the IPL was good as well.

"To get to be around [MS] Dhoni, [Dwayne] Bravo, [Brendon] McCullum, Faf [du Plessis]… these guys are international captains so I learnt a lot through that… just what their mindset is in trying to set up a batter or in different conditions on what ball to bowl when.

"It's good to have feedback from these guys. That's the only way you learn. By sitting around and talking and watching some footage and understanding what ball could I have bowled differently there."