Mystery Lung Condition Puts John Hastings' Career In Jeopardy

In a sensational revelation, Australia pace-bowler John Hastings has revealed that he is suffering from a health issue that could be fatal if he continues to bowl. The right-arm pacer has revealed that the medical condition causes persistent bleeding on his lungs.

It has also ruled him out of the forthcoming season of the Big Bash League as doctors try to get to the root of the problem. The 32-year old, who signed for Sydney Sixers in May this year, revealed that he underwent several tests but is still searching for answers. As a result, dark clouds are hovering over his playing career.

In a recent interview, he revealed his ordeal and how tough it has been on his body.

“It’s something that, over probably the last three or four months, has been a really difficult period for me,” Hastings told RSN’s the Breakfast Club on Friday.

“It’s basically every time I’ve been trying to gear up and get ready to bowl, I’ve been coughing up blood,” he added.

He further revealed that he would not resume bowling until the problem is sorted.

“What’s happened is basically I won’t be able to bowl this year or probably moving forward unless this sort of situation gets sorted out.

“It’s just something that they can’t say, ‘look, you’re not going to have a fatal bleed on the field’ or it’s not going to cause long-term damage.

“It’s pretty shattering. I’ve come to terms with it now, but over the last four or five months it’s been a very, very tough period.

“I’ve played this game my whole life and I wanted to keep playing it. I wanted to play tournaments all around the world. That’s one of the reasons I retired early from one-day and four-day cricket.

“To see it maybe slipping away, it’s pretty tough to take. At this stage, unless something miraculous happens, I won’t be able to bowl,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Sixers are working with Hastings as he considers possible treatment options. The pacer plied his trade for Melbourne Stars for seven years before signing up for the Sydney-based outfit.

Hastings first became aware of the problem several years ago. He went on to say that the the problem is arising only when he is bowling and not while doing any other physical activity.

“Every time I’m bowling now it’s happening,” Hastings said.

“It’s literally just bowling. It’s not running. I can do boxing weight sessions, rowing, anything like that, but as soon as the pressure (of bowling) at the crease at match intensity, when I step it up, literally I burst blood vessels in my lungs and I walk back to my mark and cough up some blood.

“So it’s pretty scary, but they can’t tell for sure it’s not going to cause long-term damage. There’s a lot of grey area surrounding it.

“It’s not a very nice thing to have happen at the moment,” he added.

Last year, he had retired from Tests, ODIs and four-day cricket to focus on T20s. He represented Australia in one Test, 29 ODIs and 9 T20Is.

In domestic cricket, Hastings played 75 first-class matches for Victoria at home and Durham and Worcestershire in England.  In that time, he scored 11 fifties with a top score of 93 and took 239 wickets, including seven five-fors, at an average of 27.22. He played 113 List A matches for 179 scalps and his best figures of 6 for 45 came for Australia against Sri Lanka in August 2016.