Mark Adair can’t wait to get back into action with Lisburn on Saturday. It’s been a long three weeks without action, but he wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Adair was having a net with Northern Knights head coach Simon Johnston at Belmont on Wednesday – yet another net, something he has been familiar with albeit on the other side of the Atlantic.

The Ireland international was part of the Washington Freedom squad which reached the final of the Major League Cricket (MLC) on Sunday and while he admits he hardly played a major part, he has been living it up and taking learnings from some of the biggest names in the sport.

“Rubbing shoulders with Ricky Ponting, head coach, Glenn Maxwell, captain, the likes of Lockie Ferguson, James Hope, assistant coach, Glenn Phillips, it’s hard to beat that, a really good bunch of lads, and I really enjoyed my time there,” says Adair.

“I was signed as a replacement player months ago - because of the American visa system they try to get their players in order early - but I got the call on the Saturday morning of the (abandoned) T20 against the West Indies.

“I played in the T20 on the Sunday, flew out of Dublin on the Monday morning and played Tuesday night - which was pretty cool, playing in the Oakland Coliseum.

“The time difference meant I got in at 2.30 in the afternoon and tried to stay awake as long as possible.  They looked after me, though. I was straight onto the physio bed, straight onto the massage bed, get the flight out of the legs and then you’re are straight into the XI which was nice.

“I wasn’t expecting to play but I was keen to declare myself available, Cricket Ireland cleared me and away I went.

“I didn’t set the world on fire in my first two games and finishing the tournament with a batting strike rate of 17 isn’t ideal (he held as many catches as his total of runs and wickets!) but I was signed as a replacement. Lockie came back from injury and fired straight away.”

Adair was due to continue with his franchise commitments at the Global Super League – he was signed by the Guyana Amazon Warriors – but an overlap with the MLC ruled him out.

“The GSL wanted full availability so it would have meant me missing the MLC play-offs,” he explains.  “But I don’t want to bounce around too much, I’d rather go to one place, finish the competition there and if there is an opportunity to move somewhere else then brilliant, but (the Warriors) brought in David Weiss so absolutely fine for them on their account, no doubt, but I will be following them.

To be fair to Adair, and a major factor in his performances – and certainly not an excuse – is that he travelled to join up with Washington with that T20I at Bready only the second game he had played in four months – a knee injury ruling him out of the three one-day internationals against West Indies.

“If I’m honest I picked it up in the Test match (in Zimbabwe in February), then bowling five days out of five. Youngy (Craig Young) had a bit of a niggle, Barry (McCarthy) had a bit of a niggle and we went in with three seamers and Curtis. The spinners bowled the majority of the overs but if there was a little (pace) spell needed it fell on me, which again I was more than happy with, but it probably just took its toll. Then bowling in the ODIs (which followed immediately) that’s when it really hit me that I couldn’t put too much weight on this and it wasn’t a great place to be.

“It was a stress response, not quite a fracture, in the tibial tuberosity is the official term. It’s bone bruising and If you come back too early you are already on the back foot and it could happen again so I had to be a little bit cautious.” Hence, the long gap before he played his solitary game, so far, this season for Lisburn.

The Wallace Park side have certainly missed him, especially in the last few weeks when they have lost two league games to fall two wins behind Premier League leaders Instonians and Waringstown, and exited both the Challenge Cup and Irish Cup at the semi-final stage.

“I have been watching them all ball by ball,” adds Adair. “I think Uel Graham (1st XI coach) is delighted to have me back because it means I’ll stop texting him on a Saturday night, but I’m looking forward to playing again on Saturday, if they’ll have me!

“We had such a great start to the season, seven (wins) from seven I think it was, but we have had a bit of a bad run. It was a heart-breaking loss for the boys in the (Irish Cup) semi-final on Sunday. Balbriggan obviously played well but if Lisburn are honest with themselves they haven’t put in the greatest showing of themselves in the last few weeks and I’m just looking forward to getting involved again.”

And Adair insists: “We can still win the Premier League.

“It’s mathematically possible. We’re two wins behind, have to play both Instonians and Waringstown and they have to play each other. You’re a rainy week away from no points - and it happened to us last season against (relegated) Carrick.

“But we don’t have much wriggle room so we have to be on it from this week, although it will be quite the difference going from a game against MI New York in Dallas to Muckamore at Wallace Park.”

The other action Adair missed was the T20 festivals with Northern Knights and he has a proposal if Cricket Ireland want to do the same again next year.

”Maybe they should have a two-week block, take a week off and give the bowlers a bit of a rest and then go back for another two weeks; spreading it over five weeks rather than four wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” he advises.

“If people are out of form, it’s a long three-four weeks. And you can’t bowl five days a week for four weeks in a row. It’s not just the amount of bowling it’s the intensity, T20 cricket is always more intense, shorter, sharper. I was glad to see most of the boys got through injury-free.”

And with three rounds of the 50-over inter-provincial Cup to come next month, Adair will be hoping to get the Knights’ season back on track as well. With his own injury well and truly behind him.