How was my surgery? Successful, I've been told.

It's very early days yet but it's gone well and I'll have to wait and see how it feels in a few weeks time.

The surgeon got rid of the troublesome area at the back – the floating bones, the scar tissue and the bone spur at the front of the ankle.

He also confirmed what I thought on the final day in Melbourne, which was that I had cracked through the fourth metatarsal.

I'm confined to the 'boot' for four to six weeks.

It could be anytime after that that I could be ready to start walking and then running in to bowl. Right now I'm going to wait six weeks and reassess the situation.

I don't want to risk saying I'll be ready at a certain time and end up rushing back not fully fit and selling myself short.

I played in pain for the whole summer and my left ankle has always been trouble for me (I usually land on it with up to 15 times my own body weight).

If I'm honest with myself I haven't been 100 percent for some time especially since my bout of giardia in India. This probably affected me most in my second and third spells of Test matches when I didn't have as much energy as I wanted.

I look on this as a time to get back in the gym and get my strength up to the point where I can play really good cricket when I get back.

It's going to be too hard to say whether I could be ready for the end of the South African tour but looking ahead I have the World Twenty20, the IPL and the Ashes to set my sights on.

In the past I've always been told after surgery that it'll be unlikely I can comeback and bowl 150km/h again. I've always found a way to do it and I hope this time will be no different.

* * *

Yesterday, I left the hospital in Melbourne flew out to Sydney and went straight to the SCG.

I wanted to be there for Jane McGrath Day and support Glenn trying to make something positive out of what has happened.

I also rang Peter Siddle after his great effort yesterday afternoon and it was great to see him get on the honours board at the SCG.