He's got a ''fake knuckle'' and still can't grip a bat, but Nick Winter will launch his bid to be selected in Australia's under-19 World Cup team in the most unlikely of places.
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Three months after being told his fractured finger might end his cricketing dream, Winter will leave Canberra's cold today to begin a stint in Darwin's premier competition.
It's the last place he thought he would be during the capital's coldest months.
But the teenager hopes his trip to the Northern Territory will remind selectors of his fast-bowling talent and put him back in the frame for selection.
Winter fractured the middle finger on his bowling hand in February when trying to field a ball playing for the ACT Comets.
The bone was so badly damaged the surgeons had to cut out his knuckle and replace it with a fake bone.
And when Winter first saw the scar, he almost fainted.
''I've slowly had to learn how to move it again, it's still another two weeks before I can play,'' Winter said.
''When I got the X-ray back and they told me I may never play again, it hit home pretty hard, I was pretty shattered.
''They weren't sure how I would recover, but getting back on the field is my first step … the time off hurt, but it has made me more hungry.''
The injury was a major setback for Winter.
The left-arm quick had hoped to force his way into the Australian junior side to play at the World Cup in August.
But for the past three months he has been learning how to move his finger.
He still can't clench his fist and has been told he probably will never be able to again.
But unfazed by the movement slowly returning to his finger, the 18-year-old is determined to prove he can match it against the best rising players in international cricket.
Winter will play with the Southern District Crocodiles in Darwin.
ACT high performance director Andrew Dawson has also organised for Winter to be involved in camps with the Australian batsmen and the Twenty20 team.
Test bowler Pat Cummins is an almost certain selection - barring injury - in the under-19s team and Winter admits he faces a tough fight to win a place in the final squad.
To prepare himself, he has been training four days a week for the past eight weeks and he has deferred his ANU commerce degree to focus on cricket.