Brad Haddin contemplated quitting cricket

Melbourne: Australian wicket-keeper batsman Brad Haddin was on the verge of announcing a shock retirement earlier this year, fearing he was no longer physically or mentally up to international level.The 37-year-old wicketkeeper, slightly overweight and suffering pain in his lower back, sought urgent advice from a long-term friend and unlikely mentor, in former NSW Waratahs rugby star Tom Carter.

As recently as April, Haddin was considering quitting the game.“He approached me after the T20 World Cup where he obviously had an incredible comeback through the Ashes and he just said, ‘look, I feel really tired and I’m just unsure about where to go,’” said Carter, who has known Haddin for 10 years through mutual friend, Northern Districts cricket coach Paul Byrom.

“He spoke to me about the difficulty of a fter the Ashes and the emotional and physical let-down of how hard it’s to want to keep climbing the mountain,” Carter was as quoted as saying in the Sunday Telegraph. “I said to him, ‘you have nothing to prove to anyone … why don’t we just train for a month and then you make a decision? Don’t make a decision when you feel like you do now.’

“And he just really picked up the bit there and ran with it.“We’ve been working the last couple of weeks to try and help him get back for the Test and hopefully he becomes the 45th Test captain for Australia.“I feel very fortunate that someone at 37 who has achieved so much in the game was so willing to try make themself so much better again.

“He’s really determined to reimpose himself.”

Haddin was in excruciating pain when he landed on his shoulder during the second Test against Pakistan.Through his rugby career, Carter saw some shoulder injuries, and described Haddin’s as “horrible”.The gloveman will be named in Australia’s squad on Sunday and will run out for NSW in their Sheffield Shield clash starting on Tuesday after undergoing rigorous testing of his shoulder under Carter’s watch.