England star Jonny Bairstow has revealed he is "on the right track" in his injury recovery, but does not yet have a return date.
In September, Bairstow broke his leg in three places and dislocated his ankle in a freak accident while playing golf and underwent surgery. The injury meant Bairstow missed England's T20 World Cup win and historic series whitewash over Pakistan, but the 33-year-old is set to play a key role in a bumper 2023 which includes a home Ashes series and the 50-over World Cup.
Speaking at the MCC 'spirit of cricket' panel, Bairstow gave a promising update on his injury, revealing: "It is improving, we're on the right track, we're about four-and-a-half months post it [the injury] happening now.
"I haven't actually got a return date just yet but I'm seeing a surgeon later on in the month so we'll wait and see how that goes, but things are tracking in the right direction.
"It's a bit more complicated than just breaking your leg, but that's just one of the things that you deal with. Everyone has been dealt a card, everyone has challenges put in front of them, but it's just another thing you can overcome."
Bairstow also reflected on spending the entire winter at home instead of touring with England, admitting he has found it both "quite good" and "boring".
"It's been a lot different, taking the injury away from it, not being on x amount of planes and flying everywhere and being around a group of lads, being at home has been a lot different," he added. "It's been quite good at times, it's been quite boring at times.
"It has been tricky, obviously the night before I did my ankle, I spoke to Matthew Mott and Jos [Buttler] and they spoke about me opening the batting in T20 side and that's what I've been wanting to do for a little period of time, so I was absolutely delighted.
"And then it's amazing how quickly things can turn on it's head, within 12 hours I was laying on a hospital bed, my leg in a cast and my ankle being put back in place."
