Cricket was far from his mind during treatment, when even getting a bed and interacting with his family was a struggle.
“My son was two-and-a-half years old and he just wanted to play,” Maddinson told AAP. “It was probably a hard thing not being able to muster the energy to do that, or not having the energy to walk across the street and take him to the playground.”
Maddinson, who began the 2024-25 season hopeful of a Test return, began this summer taking the final steps on his journey back from the devastating illness.
“This is probably as much fun as I’ve had playing cricket for a long time,” Maddinson said. “Six months ago, just being on the field and playing was something I wasn’t sure would happen so quickly.”
Maddinson is still fighting for a first-class return in New South Wales, but played a second XI match before joining the Thunder for their loss to the Hobart Hurricanes earlier this month.
Between a tough summer of 2024-25, his health battles and his age, the 34-year-old knows he has missed the chance to add to his three Test caps. That doesn’t bother Maddinson, who is learning to put less pressure on himself.
“It’s probably just a different attitude towards it all. I just want to play,” he said. “I thought I had a good chance at the beginning of last summer to try and put my hand up but it didn’t work out. Now it’s just about enjoying playing and whether I have two years left or five years left, I don’t really know.
“But I’m still enjoying it, I’m enjoying it as much as I did before and I still want to improve. I think I’m probably better now than I was 12 or 18 months ago. As long as that’s happening, I’m going to keep playing.”
“Your automatic thoughts are probably the worst thoughts. Then it’s just like, what can you do as a best friend? Do whatever you can,” Zampa told AAP.
The first thing Maddinson and his wife did when chemotherapy finished was fly out to Sydney to spend time with the Zampa family.
Even when his Renegades lost to Madison Thunder on Monday, Zampa couldn’t help but smile at the end of the game and reflect on his teammate’s comeback story.
“Seeing him fit and healthy and playing cricket again… I’m really happy for him,” Zampa said.