Phil Jaques puts his back into Tykes stint (From York Press)

Phil Jaques puts his back into Yorkshire stint

11:20am Saturday 4th February 2012 in Yorkshire County Cricket Club By Graham Hardcastle

NEW signing Phil Jaques is determined to enjoy his forthcoming spell with Yorkshire after recovering well from major back surgery in 2008 which ended his international career with Australia.

The left-hander announced his retirement from domestic cricket down under earlier this week, putting all his efforts into the White Rose county from mid-April onwards.

Jaques has signed a two-year deal at Headingley, and he is hoping the ECB will rubber stamp his status change from an overseas to a non-overseas player by virtue of holding a UK passport.

The New South Welshman played 11 Tests and six one-day internationals between 2005 and 2008, scoring a healthy 1,027 runs including three hundreds.

But he lost his place after opting to go under the knife.

“I probably had the back injury for the whole time I played for Australia,” he said.

“I played with it for two or three years on really high doses of anti-inflammatories, which weren’t good for me.

“I made the decision to get it operated on based on my health. I just couldn’t get out of bed, I couldn’t stay in bed, I couldn’t walk around, I couldn’t sit. There was just nothing I could do that made it comfortable.

“I stayed in there (Australia team) for as long as I could. It got to the point where drugs didn’t help me anyway.

“It was about getting my life back ahead of playing cricket.

“It was life first, cricket second.”

Jaques missed nearly a year’s action following surgery, and fell behind the likes of Simon Katich, Phil Hughes and Shane Watson in the international pecking order.

But he is back to full fitness now, and looking forward to his second spell with the White Rose county.

“I’m feeling really good at the crease again,” he added. “I got a few hundreds last year in the (Sheffield) Shield, I got back-to-back hundreds in a game, which I’d never done in my whole career. I hit 170 in a one-day game, so I can still play.

“It was just a matter of being able to work out what I could and couldn’t do with my training and modifying it accordingly.

“I’m done with international cricket. I’m just focusing on Yorkshire and playing some good cricket there, playing in all three formats of the game.

“I want to help them back up to the first division where they belong.”