Dedication may take Chaminda Vaas to England

``There is nothing to really worry about the operation. The biggest problem is fixed,'' said Sri Lanka's Australian-born team physio Alex Kountouri.

``If everything goes well, he should be able to start bowling by around mid-July and hopefully come to England. We don't want to push him until he is ready. It is pretty important to us that he is only 24 years old and has a long way to go in his career,'' said Kountouri under whose watchful eyes Vaas is progressing rapidly.

Vaas underwent the operation in South Africa seven weeks ago. The present problem with Vaas is that after one month in plaster, which restricted his movements, his foot has become stiff and the muscles in his calf and especially, in his thighs have become really weak.

``We must get the stiffness out of his ankles. Once we get the muscles working, then he can play,'' said Kountouri, who has been treating him twice a day in the last three weeks.

``He's been working pretty hard in the gym doing his stuff and its loosening up pretty well. To his credit I must say he has fought his injury quite well. Every morning at seven o'clock, he comes for treatment, goes to the swimming pool and the gym, rides the bike, comes back in the evening and does the same thing.

``He is doing about six to seven hours of work a day to get his leg right. The way he is progressing is quite fantastic. He's got 70-80 percent of the movement compared to his other ankle now,'' said Kountouri.

Vaas was operated during Sri Lanka's recent tour there by Dr. Fief Ferreira, a renowned South African surgeon, who has operated on fast bowlers like Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Richard Elsworthy.

``Dr. Ferreira only treats peoples ankles and feet and he's got a good reputation. That is why I felt comfortable leaving Vaas in South Africa to have the operation there. Normally, I would have sent him to Australia,'' said Kountouri.

``Dr. Ferreira has operated on quite a number of South Africans and he said Vaas' bone was the biggest one he's seen. Which means it would have been causing Vaas more pain than anyone else. He said that it had come loose that it almost broke off. Its understandable how much of pain Vaas had. It was remarkable that Vaas was able to play and bowl for the last four or five months the way he did. He showed a lot of courage'' said Kountouri.

Explaining the exact injury of Vaas, Kountouri said: ``The injury is called os trigonem or posterio impingement. That means, that at the back of the ankle there is a bone there that develops when you are young, and with the impact of bowling, becomes thicker and bigger. That causes two bones to pinch each other.

``There's not enough space for the ankle to land properly. As the bowler lands his front foot to bowl, this extra bone hasn't got the space to move and when one bone hits another it becomes very painful. The area becomes very swollen, that it irritates other tissues, nerves, ligaments and muscles in the area. The bone needs to be taken out to relieve the area.

``This extra bone occurs in some 10 percent of the population and if one of those ten percent is a bowler, he is going to feel it. It is very common amongst fast bowlers. Guys like Pollock, has undergone the same operation, Donald and Lance Klusener have got the same problems and they may have to undergo the operation at some stage in the near future.

``It is much common in soccer players because the way they kick the ball and in ballet dancers. It happens to fast bowlers because the position the foot lands. We all might have the same bone, but we probably won't feel it because we are not putting the foot in that position.

``The operation Vaas had was very simple. They open it up and they cut out the extra bit of bone that wasn't supposed to be there,'' said Kountouri.