Andy Moles on life with a new leg

Just over eight months since his life changed forever, we caught up with the inspirational Andy Moles to find out how he’s adjusted to daily life on a prosthetic leg throughout this year.

Moles, 59, has been living with the specialist piece of equipment since April, when he was forced to undergo an amputation of the left leg following various complications which originated from a large blister on the back of his foot.

Since then, Moles, who has inspired the entire cricket community with his response to such adversity, has learned to walk again, raised over £15,000 for the Professional Cricketers’ Trust and even managed a recent trip to Uzbekistan, where he ran a training programme for the country’s aspiring cricket coaches.

“It’s a continual and evolving battle because the stump is getting smaller and smaller now,” Moles said.

“I’ve had my final prosthetic carbon fibre leg made, but it’s getting smaller in the fitting so I have to wear a glove or a sleeve over it to support my leg, so it doesn’t get too wobbly. That’s totally normal though, the stump will shrink over time and that’s what’s happening to me at the moment.

“I’m actually having issues with my good leg rather than my new leg. My calves and glutes are cramping up a lot when I’m walking any reasonable distance – I think it’s just to do with getting used to action after months of not doing anything. But on the whole everything is going OK, which is the main thing.”

Previously a coach and director of Afghanistan cricket, Moles parted company with the country’s governing body in August due to budgetary issues resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the ever-positive former opening batsman has set his sights on returning to a coaching role in the near future.

“At the moment I can walk around freely, but I want to up it as my main ambition is to get fit and get back into coaching again.

“I actually recently went out to Uzbekistan to do a week’s coaching course with their coaches. That was my first bit of work since the amputation but it was more along the lines of classroom tutorials and education as opposed to being out in the field and coaching in a practice session.

“They’ve just asked to join the ICC so they’re a brand-new emerging nation and they’ve got a group of 30 coaches who work with their youngsters. They just want to make sure they’ve got all the techniques right and that they’re coaching in the correct manner, which I was happy to help out with.

“Beyond that, I think I’ll have to wait until Covid-19 has passed to work out what my options are.”

Although the pandemic has compounded what has already been an unimaginably difficult year for Moles, he has nevertheless been heartened by the public response to his story and subsequent generosity of the wider cricket community.

“I’m delighted and very touched by the warmth of both friends and strangers who gave up their donations so willingly to the cause – raising over the £15,000 for the Professional Cricketers’ Trust has just been incredible.

“The afternoon I appeared on Test Match Special I think we raised around £7,000 in the two hours directly after that interview with Aggers (Jonathan Agnew). It really was touching and wonderful to see the generosity of people to such a good cause.

“Along with the donations, there have been so many messages of good luck from friends and old teammates, for which I will always be very grateful.

“For now, I’m just looking forward to enjoying Christmas Day on the beach here in Cape Town.”

Read our June interview with Andy in which he discusses his experiences in greater detail.

Find out more about the Professional Cricketers’ Trust.