Jhye Richardson’s long-awaited return to Sheffield Shield cricket has been marred by a freak shoulder injury, sustained while celebrating a wicket during his first over of the match.

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The injury-prone fast bowler has been managed by WACA and Cricket Australia this summer after recovering from a hamstring complaint, sidelined for Western Australia’s first four matches of the Sheffield Shield season.

However, the 28-year-old was named in the starting XI for this week’s day-night contest against South Australia at Adelaide Oval, his first Sheffield Shield match since December 2023.

After Western Australia was bowled out for 373, Richardson claimed back-to-back wickets in his opening over, removing South Australian opener Conor McInerney and No. 3 Daniel Drew in consecutive deliveries.

McInerney and Drew were both trapped LBW, with Richardson hooping the pink Kookaburra around corners.

However, after high-fiving a couple of his teammates, Richardson grabbed at his right shoulder and dropped to the turf in agony, with a team medic running onto the field. The right-armed quick left the field for a “precautionary check”, prompting fears of another injury setback.

Thankfully, Richardson returned to the action about 30 minutes later, snaring the wicket of Thomas Kelly in his following over.

Richardson, who received a national contract earlier this year, underwent surgery on his troublesome shoulder in 2020. He missed the previous two editions of the World Cup in 2019 and 2023 due to injury.

“You have those moments where you question yourself, about whether you’re still as skilful as what you were a couple of years ago, when everything was going alright,” Richardson told Fox Cricket in September.

“I’m not even thinking about Australian selection at the moment, it’s about stringing together some games and actually performing for myself.”

Richardson has played three Tests, 15 ODIs and 8 T20Is since his international debut in 2017, taking 57 wickets across formats.