Former England bowling coach Troy Cooley is reportedly working on a 'master plan' to stop Australia's pacemen from breaking down.
Cooley, who helped England wrested back the Ashes urn from Australia in 2009 with his reverse-swing edict, is now a Cricket Australia (CA) Centre of Excellence coach.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the former first-class Tasmanian player is on a mission to solve the back injury epidemic plaguing Australia's pacemen like Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Pat Cummins, which has the potential to derail this summer's Ashes campaign.
Stating that young fast bowlers aged 20 to 24 have an inherent risk of developing chronic issues aggravated by counter-rotation in their back, Cooley said that looking after quicks is a 'sore topic' especially in their youth, adding that CA can help by starting to reduce the time spent with the physiotherapist.
According to Cooley, Mitchell Johnson highlighted that between the ages of 20-24 he broke down four times, adding that they working hard to help the fast bowlers get through in their formative years.
The report mentioned that Australian Ashes star Ryan Harris is also under an injury cloud after missing the current one-day series with a hamstring tear, with Cooley admitting that Harris' presence is crucial as Australia looks to wrest back the urn on home soil.
Cooley also said that even though no one likes to see fast bowlers going down to injury, it is a known fact that they, especially the younger ones, are going to get injured in any high-pressure situations.
