‘I’ve rewound the years with Lego and jigsaws’ – Havant CC captain Chris Morgan to miss entire 2022 season after undergoing major surgery

The 32-year old batsman and left-arm spin bowler revealed he has been struggling for the past two summers and underwent a total reconstruction on his left knee on New Year’s Eve.

He is currently recuperating at his parents’ Drayton home, but is optimistic the brace can shortly be removed after having been strapped to his leg for 12 weeks, writes Mike Vimpany.

Morgan explained: ‘The injury came to light in August 2020, but I carried on playing that Covid season thinking the problem would go away, but it didn’t.

‘I had an MRI scan that revealed the full tear of my posterior cruciate ligament, which runs along the back of the knee and connects the thighbone to the top of the lower leg bone.

‘I wore a PCL brace for three months that 2020/21 winter and then had five months of physiotherapy before being told by a knee surgeon in London that it had healed.

‘I played throughout last season in a bit of discomfort but thought it was normal healing - until it took a turn for the worse early mid-season and ended up wearing a knee brace. I thought I was just getting old!’

He added: ‘Fielding was really tough, running between the wickets a nightmare. I couldn’t do any quick or sharp movements.

‘Fortunately, bowling wasn’t too bad but it definitely impacted and I’m looking forward to getting back at it in a more fit state.

‘Come the autumn, it was still giving me problems, so I went for another scan, which revealed the injury hadn’t healed and I’d played the full season with no PCL. Getting into my thirties and having no PCL brace is my excuse - in hindsight - for not being able to run or field!’

Morgan goes into graphic detail about his operation undertaken by the hugely respected knee specialist Dr Niall Flynn at Portsmouth Spire hospital.

‘I had an allograft (ligaments taken from a deceased person) drilled through the front of the top of my shin, through my knee into my thigh bone, since when I have had a straight leg brace on my knee.

‘I’ve been on a rigorous bed/couch/bed daily routine which is actually incredibly tough.

‘I’ve rewound the years and kept occupied with Lego, jigsaws, Netflix, reading, puzzles and anything to alleviate the boredom!

‘The allograft is now starting to become a live tissue and fuse with my body so the next few weeks will be important to get the tension right and reap the long-term benefits, but the surgery went well and rehab is ahead of expectations for now.

‘The brace has now been set to 65 degrees so I’m able to walk without crutches, albeit wobbling like I’ve drunk ten pints of beer !

‘The next couple of weeks is getting the muscles used to working again, building up the flexibility and then moving to strengthening it – the long slow graft starts now.

‘The brace is allowed to come off while resting up at home but not when I’m up and about; hopefully, it will be removed very shortly.’

Morgan confirmed there is no chance of him playing cricket this season, ‘so I’ll be pulling the strings from behind the boundary rope, and making myself useful serving drinks behind the Havant Park bar and, if needs must, may be helping make the teas!’

Losing Morgan for the season is a significant blow for Havant, who finished seventh in 2019 and sixth last season, but have won the T20 Cup under the Ageas Bowl floodlights for the past two years.

Since making his first team debut as a 13-year old, he has taken close on 450 competitive wickets and scored over 4,000 runs.

With Morgan sidelined, left-hand opener Ben Walker has taken on the captaincy of Havant’s Premier Division side. Peter Hopson will take charge in the ECB Royal London Cup, in which the club will host Littlehampton, Clymping & Patching on Sunday, May 1.

Havant’s opening Southern Premier League match is against the Hampshire Academy on the Ageas Bowl Nursery Ground on Saturday, May 7.