By Denise Sharon Cahill, Western Suburbs Weekly
CHRONIC fatigue syndrome kept Alex Malcolm from taking the field with his Subiaco-Floreat teammates in the lead-up to the WACA one-day final, but plenty of rest ensured he was a certain starter for the main game.
The rest obviously paid off, with the 25-year-old Floreat resident top-scoring with 86 runs in the win against Bayswater-Morley on February 27.
Unfortunately, the top side could not repeat the performance in the two-day final last weekend, going down to Joondalup.
Malcolm, who has played A-grade for Subiaco-Floreat since 2004 after joining the club as a junior in 1996, was diagnosed with chronic fatigue in September 2009, but had been suffering symptoms since July the same year.
“It has affected my cricket performance – I didn’t play most of last season and I haven’t played as well as I would have liked to this season,” he said.
Fatigue is the main symptom of the multi-systemic disease; others include unrefreshing sleep, muscle and joint pain, cognitive difficulties and chronic mental and physical exhaustion.
“There are lots of different theories (to treat chronic fatigue), but no one solution or common thread that people seem to find," he said.
“It is a common syndrome, but comes in different forms. I tend to use supplements and diet to control it and I am trying to narrow down a few things at the moment.
“I just try to manage it day by day and get as much sleep and exercise as I can. You don’t feel refreshed after sleep, but you need to get it.”