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WA paceman Jason Behrendorff is keen to maintain his fiery pace when he makes his playing return, but his deadly swing is his most important asset.
Fit-again WA paceman Jason Behrendorff hopes the radical spinal surgery he underwent last year will help propel him back into the Australian side.
Behrendorff has been plagued by back stress fractures for a large part of his career and last October the left-hander eventually opted for the same surgery that helped save the career of James Pattinson.
The surgery was a success, and Behrendorff is set to return to club ranks in the near future before turning up for the Perth Scorchers in the BBL.
Behrendorff was touted as a future Test star after a series of impressive displays for WA earlier in his career, which included a stunning haul of 9-37 in a Shield match against Victoria in 2017.
The 30-year-old also shone for Australia during his 11 ODIs and seven T20s.
Whether Behrendorff's body will allow him to flourish in the longer form of the game remains a big question mark but white-ball cricket will be the main focus early on.
He hopes some consistent performances for the Scorchers and WA will thrust him back into the national selection frame.
"I'd be silly to say I don't want to play cricket for Australia because I absolutely do," Behrendorff said at WA's season launch on Wednesday.
"Another part of my decision to have surgery is that hopefully it will give me a chance to play consistently and give me a chance to get back to the top.
"Firstly starting to play cricket here in WA and getting some consistency, but the ultimate goal is to still be playing cricket for Australia."
Behrendorff doesn't want to lose any pace when he makes his playing return but his biggest priority is maintaining the deadly swing that has worked so well for him.
"I still want to bowl fast. One of my main strengths though is swinging the ball," Behrendorff said.
"So that's something I've said along the whole journey - whatever we change, whatever we're looking to do, I still need to swing the ball, that's my No.1 asset.
"That's certainly been at the forefront of my mind."
