Australian young gun Lance Morris has opened up on the slow injury recovery he had to endure this year which ruled out any chance of him debuting in the Indian Premier League.
After running the drinks during Australia's tour of India, and then returning home to help Western Australia win the Sheffield Shield, Morris was on a high.
But then a routine back scan revealed a dreaded stress fracture in his back.
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It's a fast bowler's injury, and Morris conceded it was not the first time he's had one.
"I definitely had them when I was 17 years old when I first moved up to Perth to play premier cricket, even before that when I was 14 years old I probably had them then as well," he told Wide World of Sports at a BBL launch.
"I'm hoping now I've hit that age bracket when I'm 25-plus where your body's settled into what you do as a profession and holds up alright."
The tearaway fast bowler's bad news came at a bad time, with Mumbai Indians interested in securing his services for next year's IPL campaign.
"Everything sort of happened at the same time where I was getting news about my back, and on the end of the line I was getting asked to jump on a plane to Mumbai," he said.
"It was really tough to say no to that because that's a huge opportunity and unfortunately my body needed rest. Hopefully something can prop up again in the future."
Despite his disappointment at not rubbing shoulders with the likes of Rohit Sharma and Chris Jordan, Morris was able to see the brighter side, stating he "dodged a bullet".
"I basically had a six to eight week period of just rest, of genuinely giving my back some time to recover," he explained.
"Then it was a really gradual build up, a very slow knock up of pace as we went on, making sure I gave my back time to heal up properly because if you don't pay enough attention it can get pretty bad.
"I probably dodged a bullet to be honest only having 12 weeks out, instead of 9-12 months is a big difference."
With the next IPL auction set for December 19, Morris could find himself on the bidding list as some players await a life-changing offer.
However, the 25-year-old said there hadn't been interest yet.
"Haven't heard anything in particular, just hoping to play cricket and that speaks for itself," he said.
With thoughts of the auction in the background, Morris will continue to stay in contention for a baggy green.
Having been picked in the Australian Test squad for the first Test at Perth, the fast bowler will be on high alert if any of his teammates go down.
With those Test commitments in front of him, it remains to be seen how many appearances he makes for the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash but Morris is clear on what the side's goal is.
"It's probably almost about creating a legacy, if you can go three in a row, that's pretty special," he said.
"Obviously being the hunted club at the moment you need to stay on top of your game and always look to be better.
"List management has done a really good job at that as well so we've got a few fresh faces around the club and some exciting talent. Hopefully we can go again."
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