Aneurin Donald on recovering from an ACL injury during lockdown

Hampshire batsman Donald had surgery on his knee last December and was told he would be unlikely to play cricket this summer

Not many professional athletes in the history of sport have suffered an ACL injury and not missed a single minute of action or even a training session.

In that regard, Aneurin Donald counts himself as the luckiest cricketer of the lockdown.

Hampshire batsman Donald had surgery on his knee last December and was told he would be unlikely to play cricket this summer.

But what he didn’t know at the time was that his county colleagues would also be sidelined for most of 2020.

“I'm not sure I could have pulled it off any better!” Donald said.

“To be faced with kind of a nine-month layoff in any walk of life is a pretty tough one especially in sports where you have such a short career.

“It was a kind of panic at the start. You’re a year down the line and feel like you are potentially a year behind your competitors and a year behind where I wanted to be in my career. Those were my initial fears.

“Generally, an injury is unavoidable at some point in your career, although this isn’t the one I would have chosen.

“But to not miss a training session, let alone a game, so far is a bit of a treat really. If ever there was a year to do a serious injury it was this one.”

The manner of Donald’s injury, coming playing football to keep fit during the winter, will add weight to banning the activity around cricket.

Hampshire teammate Fidel Edwards missed the 2016 season with a broken leg while England opener Rory Burns rolled his ankle to scupper his South Africa tour, both sustained during football warm-ups.

Donald, who was “embarrassingly” not near anyone else at the time, heard a loud crack and knew he was in trouble.

That was confirmed when club physio James Clegg impressively diagnosed him immediately down the phone.

^{Donald joined Hampshire from Glamorgan, where he began his career}

“It wasn’t particularly fun and I think I learned my lesson,” Donald admitted.

“I can’t see there being much football played at the county over the next year or two!”

A positive of rehabilitating during a lockdown is the ability to fully focus on a full recovery, rather than stress over rushing back to action and potentially causing more long-term damage.

“I think FOMO [fear of missing out] is the keyword,” Donald said.

“It was about missing out on travelling around the country with the boys playing in front of crowds, trying to improve, moving on to the next step in my career and especially kicking on at Hampshire after my debut season.

“Due to the unusual circumstances, I’m not three or four months into the season and sat on the sidelines itching to get going and the coaches are desperate for me to get back.

“It has been a lot easier to take my time and try and get it right.

“There were plenty of FaceTime calls and gym sessions in front of my iPhone in my conservatory back home with my family. So, eyes were kept on me.

“It's still a little way off, unfortunately, but just the feeling that I'm not missing out and feel like I don't need to rush you back makes things a little easier."

Donald is now back with the squad at their Arundel training base although is spending more time providing the coffees than hitting balls.

“I was fortunate enough to hit a few underarms on Monday which was a bit of a treat,” Donald said.

“First and foremost, it was just nice to see all the boys again and seeing them all back and at it again.”

The first-class counties agreed earlier this week that the domestic season will comprise of four-day and T20 cricket once it gets back underway on August 1.

Although Donald is still unsure if he will play any of that restart. He said: “I think it is going to be touch and go at the end of the season and a risk versus reward in terms of how I’m looking.

“It’s the kind of injury that I need to make sure that my career down the line isn’t affected.

“With it being a shortened season, where there isn’t as much pressure, it might be the case that we decide to delay the comeback and hit next season running.”

^{Donald injured his ACL playing football}

Donald enjoyed the perfect debut season at the Ageas Bowl last year, having made the switch from boyhood club Glamorgan the previous winter.

A Lord’s final a month into his stint “justified the move and settled that little voice in the back of my mind” but his County Championship tally of 554 runs at an average of almost 40 endeared him to his new home supporters.

“I was really pleased of what I achieved in the red ball,” Donald said.

“I knew what I could do in red ball but it was going to be a case of waiting for my turn and take my chance when it came and fortunately for me, I slotted into the lower order of the line-up well.

“To go into Division One, where there's a clear quality gap, and perform the way I did made me really proud.

“You had [Sam] Northeast at four, Vince at five, me and [Liam] Dawson at six and seven - that's pretty much as heavy a batting line-up as they come in county cricket.

“It was nice to give back the faith Chalks, Adi and Vincey [director of cricket Giles White, first-team manager Adi Birrell and club captain James Vince] had when they picked me and signed me.”

The one negative, before the injury, was the failure to get picked up in the Hundred draft – with his heart set on a dream move to Welsh Fire.

“It wasn’t particularly fun watching the draft and having your name not come up,” the proud Welshman lamented.

“It’s the new shiny toy, the premium competition and you want to be involved in playing against the best players in the world.

“I was desperate to sneak in the last couple of spots and was crossing my fingers and hoping that I could have made it back to Cardiff for some Welsh representation there but unfortunately, it didn’t pan out.”

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