Cricket's sprinting Turk

Seeing Tommy Simsek sprinting between the pitch and the pavilion and back again has become a common sight wherever Sri Lanka play.

Why does Simsek, the national team's physiotherapist, do it? "Basically," he says, "I come from a soccer background. I hate to see play being interrupted during cricket. When the physio needs to come out and attend to a player's injury play is interrupted. The more I can minimise the interruption in play, the better.

"I am treated half-heartedly as a bit of a joke in the dressing room. Initially all the players were surprised by it, the coaching staff who have been involved with cricket for a long time had never seen such a thing. It was very amusing to them. They insisted I 'do it again and again'. One thing led to another and they wanted me to do it all the time. Whenever I didn't sprint they were disappointed and I was booed.

"I just kept it up because it gave a break from the stresses of cricket. It was a bit of entertainment while the cricket is stopped. It also has a dual purpose. It minimises the interruption in play and so many people seem amused by my running. It's nice to put a smile on the people's faces."

Simsek explained that if a player got injured in soccer he could be even taken off the field and treated and the game resumed. But in cricket more often the player is treated on the field.

Asked whether he has ever been challenged and beaten on the sprint between pitch and pavilion, Simsek smiles: "Everyone wants to challenge me; cricketers from England, New Zealand and many of our own players. I've been beaten by a few of them. It's a good thing if the players are beating me. I've said to them that I am 38 years old and I am not a professional sportsman. So as cricketers and being professional sportsmen they should be beating me."

The serious aspect of Simsek's job is to do a full assessment of every player who comes into the national team and write up a rehabilitation program which the players must fine tune. "It is easier to prevent a problem than try to fix it." The most difficult injury he has had to treat was Marvan Atapattu's back. The former Sri Lanka captain had an injury on his spinal cord which eventually required surgery.

Simsek was just a year old when his Turkish parents moved from Turkey to Melbourne where he underwent his education. After being a physiotherapist for many years he went back to university to do his Masters in sports physiotherapy. Part of the work was working with the professional rugby team Melbourne Storm. He also spent some time at the Australian Institute of Sport and worked with a soccer team in Melbourne. His Australian wife is also a physiotherapist, and they have two sons.

"I did athletics in high school. Although I was predominantly a long jumper I could do the 100 metres in 11.3 secs. I stopped athletics when I was about 18 and went on to play professional soccer in Australia. I haven't really played much cricket - just the occasional match at the school playground.

"I liked all sports and cricket was one of them, but I wasn't passionate about it. I could watch a cricket game but I had no idea about planning, tactics and all that which goes behind the scenes. This is the first time I am involved with a cricket team."

Simsek described his past 18 months with the national cricket team as 'quite enjoyable and a good learning experience'. "I've given the boys a lot of laughs with my stupid cricket questions. I ask questions like if a left-arm bowler bowls off-spin does that make him a leg-spinner or an off-spinner? It's kept them amused."

He says he has noticed a definite change in the team since joining them. "The players are more willing to challenge themselves. They are training very hard and not complaining. Their level of professionalism is steadily on the increase, maybe because they are focusing on the World Cup."