Some eighteen months after he contemplated a dramatically premature retirement from cricket, Jackson Bird can’t wait to begin his Matador One-Day Cup campaign with Tasmania on Monday.

Bird hasn’t played in the country’s domestic limited-overs tournament since 2012-13, largely due to back problems, but with a tweaked action and a revised run-up, the right-arm quick looms as a strike weapon for the Tigers, who won only two matches in last year’s Matador Cup.

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“I’m looking forward to it – it’s the first time in a couple of years that I’ve started off a season 100 per cent,” Bird told cricket.com.au ahead of Monday’s opening round, in which Tasmania will face Queensland at North Sydney Oval.

“That’s exciting for me. I can’t wait to play some white-ball cricket and I feel like the ball’s coming out really well.

“Last year I did a lot of technique work with (Tasmania coach) Damien Wright and (Australia fast-bowling coach) Craig McDermott just to fix a few things with my action and lower my counter-rotation numbers.

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“I did that quite easily, and I’ve had about 12 months now bowling with a tweaked action.

“Over this pre-season I’ve shortened my run-up as well, which I should’ve done years ago.

“I’ve lopped off about 10 metres from my run-up so that’s allowing me to get through the crease a bit better and is shortening my delivery stride a little bit, which helps me be consistent with my pace and with hitting the wicket.

“That’s something that’s worked really well in the pre-season so I’m looking forward to bringing that out in the game as well.”

Bird was catapulted into the Test team in 2012-13, having taken a staggering 53 wickets in his debut Sheffield Shield season the summer prior after he made the move from Sydney to Tasmania in search of an opportunity.

Bird celebrates a Test wicket on debut, December 2012 // Getty Images

He played the Boxing Day and New Year’s Tests against Sri Lanka that season and a third Test in the 2013 Ashes in England, but hasn’t been on the radar since, as a combination of injury, indifferent form and the rise of a host of other gifted young quicks has stymied the 28-year-old’s progress.

Bird insisted he has never lost faith in his ability as a bowler, but the recurring back problems led to doubts about his body.

“I’ve never lost confidence in my own ability,” he said. “I still think, if selected, I can offer something in Test or one-day cricket.

“The only thing I lost confidence in was my body. I didn’t have confidence in my back holding up over long periods of time, and I suppose it’s tough to bowl at your best when you feel like in the back of your mind you could get injured at any point.

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“So now that I’ve got that confidence back in my body, I feel like that sort of flows into my performance on the field, in terms of bowling.

“But if I’m honest with myself, over the last 12 months I haven’t probably bowled well enough to warrant being picked for Australia. So that’s something I need to improve and something I’m definitely capable of doing.”

It’s a remarkable recovery from the position he found himself in during the first half of 2014, when his back issues again flared up and caused him to seriously consider his future in the sport.

“The third time I did (my back), when I got home from the Test tour in South Africa it was sore for a couple of months and I did actually think to myself, ‘Is it ever going to get better – am I ever going to be 100 per cent, or am I going to have to retire?’,” he admitted.

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“But the medical staff were pretty confident that if I did have the correct amount of rest, which I did have, that it would be fine and luckily enough that was the case.

“Fingers crossed I’m through all that stuff and I don’t have to worry about hurting my back again. I just have to do everything I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

After a 2015 off-season in Hampshire that began with a bulging disc in his neck and nerve problems in his shoulder, the pattern looked painfully familiar, with another long spell on the sidelines a real possibility.

Yet Bird was able to pick up the pieces, and played 15 matches with the club across the three formats, taking 27 wickets and implementing the changes to his action and run-up he believes will hold him in good stead going into this Matador Cup.

“Stay injury free is always one goal, but hopefully I can just contribute to winning games of cricket for Tassie,” he said. “When your team’s winning it’s a lot easier to do well individually. If I can take a few wickets, that’ll be nice.”