Craig Meschede retires with a clear conscience: "I can’t sacrifice my health for success"

SAM DALLING: The former Somerset and Glamorgan man retired earlier this summer due to an arm injury but has no regrets over having to call time on his career aged 28

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“I don’t really understand myself what exactly is going on” admits Craig Meschede. “I couldn’t pick up a shopping bag, I couldn’t lift the car boot up.”

At the age of 28, a young athlete should have been reaching his prime. Instead, the most mundane day-to-day tasks were physically beyond him. Constant, unbearable pain with little to no explanation. When do you stop? When do you stare in in the face and say “enough is enough”? There has to be a line. 

Any professional cricketer is defined by what they do in the middle. They deal in a currency of runs and wickets. A spell on the side-lines means trouble. Small wonder many push their bodies to the limits. But in doing so they throw their long-term health into jeopardy.

And in the grand scheme of things the potential short-term gains aren’t worth it – or rarely anyway. On-field achievement shouldn’t – no mustn’t - come at the cost of something more fundamental.

“I can’t sacrifice my health for success,” he told The Cricketer. “That for me is not being successful. Health is the most important for me.

“My strength in my right arm was nothing - it got pretty severe and I was quite worried about it to be honest. It has caused a lot of pain and muscle wastage. I’ve got pins and needles constantly. 

“I turn my neck to the side and the pain shoots down my right arm. The forearm is in agony the whole time.”

And with that as a backdrop, the former Glamorgan star decided it was time to hang up the boots. Not that it was an easy choice. Quite the opposite in fact; it was gut-wrenching.

When it’s all you’ve ever known, all you’ve ever wanted, and then it’s wrestled from your grasp well, words don’t really do it justice.  

But as is so often the case in life, it’s the uncertainty that breeds anxiety. Once a decision has been taken, the pressure valve is opened. There is relief from the mental torture. 

^{Injury has forced the South African-born allrounder from the sport}

“Cricket’s been my life for the last ten years and it’s been everything I’ve known,” he added. “I always consider myself mentally sound but I definitely struggled the last two weeks prior to releasing my retirement. 

“Before that, I was trying to stay and think positive but I really struggled to be honest for two to three weeks before announcing. I didn’t know what to do. I was hesitant to announce it. I moved over from SA to pursue my cricketing dreams and for it to be taken away – of course, it is going to hit you.

“But now I’m feeling in a much stronger place. It is what it is. You’ve got to take it on the chin. You can’t really dwell on it. If you do you’re going to compromise your future. You’ve got to move on.”

Meschede has been on these shores for more than a decade now. He landed in the UK as a baby-faced teenager having spent his formative years in his native South Africa.

It was April 2008 when he rocked up at Kings College, Taunton – an establishment that boasts England stars Jos Buttler and Tom Banton amongst its alumni - and it wasn’t long before he was on Somerset’s radar.

Thrown in at the deep end with a fixture on virtually his first day, a debut half-century was a more than decent return, particularly as he’d gone months without striking a ball in anger having a metal plate and eight screws into his left arm. The perils of rugby.  

At that point, Somerset’s Chairman was Andy Nash. Nash’s son also attended the school and that led to Meschede being invited to the club on trial. The rest, as they say, is history, and it was on that day the all-rounder first crossed paths with Jason Kerr. 

Now the club’s head coach, Kerr was academy director at that point and his guiding hand has been invaluable to a young man thousands of miles from his family. 

“Jason and Darren Veness were massive influences on me – they looked after me," he explained. "They were mentored to me. 

“When I first started out he and Darren Venness guided me through the whole time. They were my anchor. I didn’t have my family so they were my support system.

“Whether I was going through an emotional period, a tough time or a good time, they were always there.  They’ve still supported me to this day.

^{An injury has sadly brought Craig Meschede's career to an untimely end}

“When I found out I was being offered a contract, Jason sat me down and was telling me off for bringing someone into the gym who wasn’t a Somerset player.

“And then he just said: 'on the plus side of things you’re getting a contract'. I thought I was in serious trouble but then I forgot about that after he said they were going to offer me a contract.”

Meschede’s early opportunities at Taunton largely came in white-ball cricket. Part of the side came out on the wrong side of CB40 final to Surrey at Lords in 2011, he helped himself to an impressive 22 wickets in the competition two years later. 

The 40-over competition had only been introduced in 2010 following the success of T20 cricket, and the response was lukewarm at best.

It ended up a short-lived experiment, with the format abolished after just four seasons. Not surprising given bore no resemblance to international cricket, but Meschede is perhaps one of a handful who loved the way the game was set up – citing the reduced time in the field as a bonus. 

“2012 and 2013 were really good - I was consistently playing in white-ball cricket when YB40 was the one-day comp. I loved that format as it was more entertaining than 50 overs. It was fast-paced – like a t20 competition right the way through. It was thoroughly entertaining.

“I prefer it to 50-over cricket. 50 overs is a long time. Trust me it doesn’t sound that bad and then you are in the field and you think crikey it’s a long time. For me 40-over cricket seemed a lot more entertaining.”

Hearing Meschede speak of his time in the Westcountry, one thing is obvious; he’d happily of spent his entire career at the club.

You get the impression he’d have then seen out his days at Taunton, leaned against the Marcus Trescothick Pavilion, cider in hand. But it wasn’t to be. 

The problem was Somerset’s top-order was formidable. Think Trescothick, Compton, Kieswetter, Hildreth, Buttler and Trego, plus a smattering of overseas talent. Difficult, if not impossible, for a youngster, however promising, to break that lot up. 

Meschede was a hostage to circumstance and so when a switch to Glamorgan – a club he’d turned down a few years previously - was muted, he jumped at the chance.

Initially on loan, such was his success he ended up making the deal permanent, although even then he had to fight to be in the top-order. 

“Predominantly I was a batter throughout my whole career. Bowling was something I did but never really worked on it ever. But in my first game for Glamorgan, I batted number nine – I thought you’ve got to be joking. 

“I bowled really well and got 30 odd not out. The next game it was the same again and I was like what’s going on here. I remember chatting to Jacques Rudolph and saying I’ve got to bat higher. 

“But I scored my maiden hundred at nine with Dean Cosker at the other end providing the brick wall. “I had a lovely year and really enjoyed the dressing room. I ended up signing a three-year deal with after some negotiations with Somerset.”

In what turned out to be his final competitive T20 outings, Meschede realised his dream of playing international cricket – albeit in somewhat unusual circumstances. Despite being born and bred in South Africa, his family ancestry meant he was eligible to appear for Germany. And when the call came to represent the associate nation in last year’s T20 World Cup Regional Finals, it was a no-brainer.  

Having attended a batting camp in the country, Meschede travelled to Guernsey alongside fellow county pros Ollie Rayner and Dieter Klein.  It all ended in disappointment though as, despite thrashing eventual winners Jersey, the unusual tournament set up an earlier defeat at the hands of Italy proved fatal. Meschede was named man of the series after several blistering displays and believes his adopted nation could be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

“Listen – T20 international stats I think it’s a 42 average – I’ll take that,” he says laughing. “No one sees who I play with. They just see that stat there; take that any day. There’s some amazing stuff about German and European cricket. 

“A lot of people don’t understand, but there are lots of refugees from Afghanistan, etc and there is some serious talent. There are some really talented players but the biggest issue is a lot of them don’t have residency or a German passport so they aren’t qualified to play. 

“But once they are, they will have a seriously good side. If they could raise some money or some funds I promise you they will be a force to be reckoned with.”

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