Spencer Johnson's toe injury - which he has called "bizarre" - has left several sports physicians and surgeons baffled.
He snapped a tendon in the middle toe of his right foot during South Australia's Sheffield Shield game against Western Australia last month. Johnson, 29, bowled 45 overs in the match, just the sixth first-class appearance of his career, on the back of playing four white-ball games against Pakistan in the span of eight days.
It had kept him on the sidelines for a month and he missed defending BBL champions Brisbane Heat's opening two games of the season. He, however, showed no visible signs of discomfort in an outstanding return on Boxing Day, where he claimed career-best BBL figures of 4 for 20 in Heat's 33-run loss to Perth Scorchers at Optus Stadium.
"To be honest, we still don't really know how it's happened or why it's happened," Johnson told reporters after the match. "I think four surgeons have looked at it, four sports doctors have looked at it, and they are all mindblown.
"I think we just manage it and look after it and hopefully it will be all good."
"It's such a bizarre injury, I could wake up tomorrow and it could be all right. We're looking after it, we'll manage it" Spencer Johnson
The pain is not constant but strapping is required, which is unusual for a toe and involves a rather complicated process. "It's pretty hectic," Johnson said of the strapping. "It really only hurts when I curl over or claw over. We've sort of stopped it from curling over [with the strapping] and that seems to work.
"We've come up with a decent method to strap it and hopefully that will be all right for the rest of the season. It's such a bizarre injury, I could wake up tomorrow and it could be all right. We're looking after it, we'll manage it."
Given the situation, Johnson's comeback against Scorchers was made even more impressive. He relished bowling on Optus Stadium's hard and fast surface, unleashing a hostile spell with the new ball where he dismissed opener Finn Allen for a duck.
In what has become a trademark, Johnson consistently hurried the batters on a back of a length. He claimed the wickets of Cooper Connolly, Ashton Turner and Ashton Agar with short deliveries in the backend of Scorchers' innings. Johnson, importantly in white-ball cricket, is also adept at being a defensive bowler with his accurate full-pitched deliveries hard to score off.
"It was nice being back in the Brisbane Heat shirt," Johnson said. "It [toe] felt good out there."
Having starred in the BBL over the past couple of years, including a match-winning 4 for 26 in last season's final against Sydney Sixers, Johnson is on the fringes of Australia's white-ball teams - he has played ten white-ball internationals since debuting in South Africa in August 2023. Johnson produced his best international performance when he claimed 5 for 26 against Pakistan in the second T20I at the SCG - the best figures by an Australian quick in the format.
"Five wickets for Australia... sounds a bit weird," grinned Johnson. "Doing it at the level above helps [build confidence]."
After a disappointing T20 World Cup campaign this year, an ageing Australia might go through a transition ahead of the format's next showpiece event in early 2026 in India and Sri Lanka. If his troublesome toe doesn't flare up, and he can stay fit, Johnson should be an appealing option.
"I think for me, just staying on the park and keeping my body healthy is the main thing," he said. "Hopefully the performances will keep coming."