ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY: The Headingley new boy broke down with a stress fracture in his back during the four-day clash with Essex at Canterbury at the beginning of September but is making great strides towards full fitness
Matt Milnes believes he is "on track" to be available for the selection for Yorkshire's County Championship opener against Leicestershire on April 6 as he continues his recovery from a stress fracture in his back.
The 28-year-old, who joined Yorkshire on a three-year deal last summer, began feeling pain in his back during The Hundred before breaking down during Kent's four-day clash with Essex at Canterbury at the beginning of September.
The injury, he believes, was caused by his reduced workload in August compared to earlier in the season.
Milnes has swapped Canterbury for Headingley (Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Several months on, he has finally returned to bowling and has pinpointed the club's pre-season tour to South Africa as the next milestone in his recovery.
"I'm on track at the minute," he said. "I'm back bowling, probably at about 60 per cent, which is good. We go away to Cape Town [soon] and I'm hoping to be near enough 100 per cent so I can get some overs in outside.
"There's good days and bad days. Every time I increase the intensity of something [the pain] seems to just poke its head a little bit, but then it settles down. It's two steps forward, one step back.
"This winter the majority of my time has been spent in the gym and not really cricketing until the last couple of weeks. Spending a lot of time in the gym, doing strength and conditioning, physio programmes, it's quite tough when you don't see an end goal. Now I'm back bowling, I can see that end goal and it makes it a lot easier.
Milnes first felt his back problem during The Hundred (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
"My only goal is to be fit and in the hat to play that first game."
Milnes is one of three additions to Yorkshire's bowling attack for the 2023 season, with allrounder Ben Mike recruited from Leicestershire on a three-year deal and New Zealand international Neil Wagner set to call Headingley home for a 10-match red-ball stint.
Across his first-class career, he has taken 140 wickets at 28.97 in 45 appearances while in 2019, he enjoyed his most prolific Championship campaign to date, picking up 58 wickets at 25.48 - form which earned him a spot in the England Lions set-up.
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