Morris emerges from ‘dark days’
Chris Morris is just returning from groin and stomach injuries that undermined his performances in Bangladesh in July.
|||Chris Morris has got a smile on his face once more, though for those who have watched him play in the last eight seasons that wouldn’t be a surprise.
But Morris, always an affable individual, had lost that smile and endured some “dark” days recently during which he questioned his worth as a cricketer. Morris, 28, is just returning from groin and stomach injuries that undermined his performances in Bangladesh in July.
“Personally I feel I should never have gone on that trip, but I was never going to turn down an opportunity to play for my country.”
Once he returned from that tour – where he was a part of the limited overs squads – he took some time away to reflect.
“There was a lot of mental stuff that went on behind the scenes. I had to find reasons for wanting to play cricket again. So I went to the bush, played a lot of golf, went hunting, got away from everything. I just had to get my passion back again, which sounds like a horrible thing to say as a young cricketer, but I had a lot of things going on in my head that needed to be sorted and luckily they’ve been sorted and I’m delighted to be back.”
Morris, who made his international debut in a T20 match against New Zealand in 2012/13, is quick to emphasise he never lost his love for the sport. “I never wanted to give up the game. I was just confused in my brain, asking myself ‘why am I actually playing this game?’ I lost sight of what I wanted to achieve out of the game a little bit. When you’re injured you go to a very dark place, there was a lot of stuff going on in my head, but I never lost the love I have for the game.
“After doing so badly in Bangladesh I was thinking, ‘jislaaik, am I good enough to play for my country?’”
Morris’ returns in the two ODIs he played in Bangladesh weren’t very good – he took 2/32 in the first match and conceded 29 runs in three overs in the second – but the selectors have retained faith in him, picking him for both limited overs squads for the tour to India.
That faith has helped Morris’ confidence. He is, by his own admission, back to about 90% of his full fitness and believes the remaining 10% is all mental as he learns to trust his body after the injuries.
His mental state has also been helped by a change of franchise as he returned to his original home at the Titans during the off-season. “I think I got into a comfort zone at the Lions, that happens naturally when you become a senior player, so it felt like I needed a new challenge and something different,” said Morris, who spent seven seasons at the Lions.
He was the spearhead of their attack that won the Sunfoil Series last summer and was a central figure in much of the Lions’ success in recent seasons. Along with the change in franchise there has also been a refocusing of goals for Morris and one specific area that is receiving a lot of attention is his batting.
“I’ve neglected that part of my game. When I joined the Lions I was batting in the top four for my province North West, but then I was told to focus on bowling fast and that I would bat No 7. So Rob (Walter, Titans coach) has asked that I concentrate on batting. He knows what I can do with the ball, and wants me to be more valuable with the bat. I’ve hit a lot of balls in the last few weeks, more than I have in a long long time, and hopefully that pays off.”
If there is an area that the national side is struggling to fill, it is the lower order all-rounder berth, and Morris has spotted an opportunity to shift himself up the pecking order as far as the fast bowlers are concerned. “I know there are a lot of gun bowlers in the country.
“I’m trying my hardest ... I want to be an all-rounder. That is the position in the national team that needs filling.” - The Star