Australian cricket team physio Nick Jones can take a lot of credit for their miraculous victory over Afghanistan in the ICC World Cup 2023 on Wednesday. Jones was the one who was running on the ground to treat the injured Glenn Maxwell, who was suffering from cramps and back spasms during his epic double hundred at the Wankhede Stadium.
Maxwell was suffering from multiple things at once which severely restricted his movements while batting. But he still managed to overcome pain and against all odds, played one of the greatest ODI innings to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for the Aussies.
Jones later revealed what all injuries Maxwell was suffering from and how he kept him going despite the various problems he was facing.
AUS team physio reveals his side of the story
"I was going out pretty regularly and I was just trying to keep him calm, trying to down-regulate everything, manage his heart rate and be as assuring as possible.
"(Jones said to Maxwell) 'We've seen this before, we know what this looks like – I think you're going to be able to do this. If we can keep you as upright as possible, you're going to be able to keep going from now'," Jones was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia.
'Dead man on the floor'
Jones had advised Maxwell and Pat Cummins to run as little as possible between the wickets so that the former does not aggrevate his condition further.
"Then he went down like he was a shot, lying down like a dead man on the floor. I got out there and it was his right calf, his left hammy and a few other areas that were all cramping at the same time.
"While we were giving him a bit of a stretch out, it was in that moment he said, 'I'm done here. I can't keep going. I need to come off and retire'," Jones revealed.
Cummins told Maxwell to 'go off'
Captain Cummins even told Maxwell to go off the field but it was Jones who weaved his magic on the batter which helped him smash the match-winning double century on one leg.
"Patty was like, 'go off, get some treatment and you can always come back later'. He was struggling big time but I said to Glenn initially, 'look, I think your best bet is to get you up off the ground.
"’You're lying down, other things are going to cramp, we need you up on your feet, we need to stretch the key muscle groups that are going’.
"’But if you stay on your feet and minimise your running, I think you can stay out here. I think that's your best bet’. I explained that to Patty … we need to keep him out there and keep him going.
"The way it played out from there was absolutely amazing and well beyond anything I expected he could do," said Jones. "I think we made the right call in terms of keeping him out there," Jones said.
