January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
When opportunity knocks
Former team physio is making the most of a good break
The 32-year-old's move from behind-the-scenes to centre-stage has been as swift as it was unexpected.
The Warwick batsmen realizes he still has some work to do to secure his World Cup place, but playing in the West Indies was not something that had even crossed his mind until November, 2004.
In Dublin, he had just finished his masters degree and was thinking about a future career working as a physio in the English football leagues, when he got a call out of the blue from Bermuda Cricket Board chief Neil Speight.
It was November 2004 and Speight wanted him to help get the Bermuda team fit for the ICC Trophy in Ireland.
Morgan, who had done some work with the Irish under-19s as part of his university dissertation, put together a nine-month training plan that helped Bermuda qualify for the World Cup.
He was there in Ireland to see the players make history. But even at that stage he was very much back-room staff.
He was just playing cricket for Warwick and working on building up his physio business - Performance Rehab Limited.
“I didn't even consider playing for Bermuda. It was not a real goal of mine. I just wanted to play cricket while I was back and it has snowballed from there.”
It wasn't until a mixture of injuries and players being unavailable that led to his surprise inclusion in the tour of Canada that Morgan's goals began to change.
The trip to Toronto was something of a false start with Morgan failing to make an impact as opener and returning to physio's duties for the series against UAE in January.
A series of injuries meant he was called on to pad up during that tour and he hasn't looked back since.
He topped the batting averages on the tour of Trinidad with a series of creditable knocks including an unbeaten half-century.
And on Sunday he blasted another half-century to kick-off the 20-20 World Cricket Classic in style.
There’s still plenty of work to do to before Morgan can call the number three slot his own, but he's clear now on what his goals are.
“It got to a point where I had to make a decision. Do I want to play or do I want to be the physio?
“I'd never rule out not being the physio if I was asked to do that but at the moment I'm concentrating on playing.”
For someone who had been used to putting the players through their paces, coming into the team as an inexperienced batsman was a very different dynamic.
“I've gone from telling them to do this or do that to asking for their advice. They're now the ones telling me to try this or try that. I'm basically trying now to focus on my own game as much as possible.”
Morgan’s sporting career began as a junior playing school cricket for Warwick Academy and following in his father’s footsteps to play for Warwick Workman’s.
He went to McGill University in Canada to study biology and then worked for a year in Bermuda with Dr. Ewart Brown.
After that he went on to do a bachelor of science in Manchester. Morgan went on to specialize in sports at Trinity College Dublin and was vaguely thinking about working in the English football leagues.
But a chance opportunity to get back involved with cricket, changed the course of his career and ultimately put him on the road back home to Bermuda and a potential World Cup place.
“Basically, the head physio for the Irish team came into our lecture theatre and asked if anyone was interested in cricket. I was the only one that put my hand up.”
That led to an opportunity to work with the Irish under-19s and briefly with the senior team - a career move that attracted the attention of Speight.
If he hadn’t received that call Morgan isn’t sure where he’d be right now. It's unlikely that he'd be back in Bermuda, and it’s almost certain that he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to score the most memorable half-century of his career against the West Indies legends.
“It was a great atmosphere. It was just an honour to be on the field with those guys. I've seen Colin Croft on the TV and I've met Phil Simmons, so it was amazing.
“The crowd was fantastic. I've never played in front of a crowd like that before, it was great for all of us. It's good for Bermuda to have the Classic here.”
Despite his elevation from physio to frontline batsman Morgan insists he is not thinking as far ahead as the World Cup.
His sports science background has taught him to focus on small individual goals.
“The first goal was making the team for Trinidad, I've ticked that off. The next goal was making the 20-20 squad, - now I've ticked that off. We've got another trip to Trinidad coming up and that is as far ahead as I'm looking.”
Morgan breaks it down even further, keeping a journal of each training session.
“Before each session I right down what my goals are - whether it is to improve my on-driving or my off-driving, then afterwards I evaluate how well I succeeded.
“Smart goals are specific achievable goals that you can quantify and assess how well you’ve done.
“It’s something Rudy (Alleyne - the team's mental skills coach) has been working on with us.”
Morgan’s next goal is simple. Beat England in tonight’s encounter at the National Sports Centre.
“They looked good on Sunday. It was a typically English performance, lots of straight bats - very professional.
His professional goal is to build up his burgeoning physio business — Performance Rehab Limited — where he works on many of the island's national sporting stars.
He has two new physios working with him — Deanna and Kim McMullen — from next week, and hopes to grow the business. More info at www.performancerehabltd.com.
[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.