Australian captain Ricky Ponting is trying hard to be in shape for the World Cup
by taking cortisones injections to ease the inflammation in his spine and avoid
a surgery.
Ponting said he had three cortisone injections in his spine on Wednesday as
he played throughout most of the summer with a back so sore that he could hardly
sleep at night.
"It`s been something that has been bothering me a lot through the summer.
It started the second day of the Perth Test match, which is a long time ago
now (December 15)," he said.
"It hasn`t gone away and it`s got worse game by game.
It`s just the right time now I think to get it fixed as soon as possible, so
I`m not having a lot of sleepless nights through the world cup as I`ve had through
the summer," he was quoted as saying.
The Aussie skipper said the inflammation from bone spurs had
built up over his 15-year cricket career.
The Tasmanian, who is not taking part in the Chappell-Hadlee
Series in New Zealand as he is recuperating from his injury, said he
had seen X-Rays which showed the bone spurs on his spine, but he did not think
he would require surgery.
"Listening to the specialist it will take 4-5 days to settle down completely,
so I`ll have a few more days on anti-inflammatory yet before I`ll be feeling
any better.
"The doctor says having the injections gives me the best chance of getting
better as quickly as possible. If the injections take away a lot of the inflammation
that`s been around the spine it should be better," he said.
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