Meet Nick Jones, the unsung hero in Maxwell masterclass at Wankhede

ICC World Cup 2023 Australias physiotherapist Nick Jones advise got a dead man stand on his feet and the result was an epic World Cup knock that will be talked about for a long time to comeSuffering multiple body cramps Glenn Maxwell was done and wanted to retire during the World Cup match against Afghanistan on Tuesday night His skipper Pat Cummins was not complaining eitherBut Jones knew that the best bet for Maxwell was to just stand minimise his running and keep going for his shots And it worked For both Maxwell and AustraliaMaxwell is now a proud owner of perhaps the greatest knock under pressure an unbeaten 201 that propelled Australia into the semifinalsJones working with the Australian team for the last two years and someone who has treated Maxwell for severe cramping advised against leaving the field because the allrounders conditions would have only worsened in the dressing roomFrom there it was obvious we were fighting a losing battle Jones told cricketcomauThats not unusual we see this a lot with lots of different players but the more running you do youre bringing cramps on more regularly and more quickly I was going out pretty regularly and I was just trying to keep him calm trying to downregulate everything manage his heart rate and be as assuring as possible he saidJones told Maxwell If we can keep you as upright as possible youre going to be able to keep going from nowAlso Read Bruised but not batteredMaxwell had got Australia back on the reckoning lifting the side from 91 for seven but when the side was still 55 runs away from the finish line Jones had to be summoned againThen he went down like he was shot lying down like a dead man on the floor said JonesI got out there and it was his right calf his left hammy and a few other areas that were all cramping at the same time While we were giving him a bit of a stretch out it was in that moment he said Im done here I cant keep going I need to come off and retirePatty was like go off get some treatment and you can always come back laterThat is reasonable in some situations But in that one from my end if you take someone off in that situation when their system is already depleted and you sit them down and cool them down youre not getting them back upTheir body shuts down They often go into full body cramps and youre often not able to get any level of function out of themAnd then came Jones adviceHe was struggling big time but I said to Glenn initially look I think your best bet is to get you up off the ground Youre lying down other things are going to cramp we need you up on your feet we need to stretch the key muscle groups that are goingBut if you stay on your feet and minimise your running I think you can stay out here I think thats your best bet I explained that to Patty we need to keep him out there and keep him goingMaxwell listened to that and pulled off one of the most incredible knocks in the history of the gameThe way it played out from there was absolutely amazing and well beyond anything I expected he could do I think we made the right call in terms of keeping him out there he saidWith inputs from agencies