I had the chance to speak to some cricketers from Scarborough Cricket Club.

The players – Sam Hogg, Simon Branston and Richard Gilbert

The Topic - Common injuries and possible technical faults, which may lead to these injuries.

Cricket is a major international sport played in more than 60 countries. Although strictly non-contact, injuries are common. It is rated fifth among causes of non-fatal accidents.

 Elite cricketers are expected to train longer, harder, and earlier in life to excel in their chosen sport.

 The repetitive nature of the game and been out on the field of play for long periods predispose cricketers to a wide range of injuries. Bowlers are however the most at risk, followed by batsman then fielders. Injuries can be caused from direct blows, indirect muscle, ligament, tendon damage (performing specific activity) and overuse. Overuse injuries can be secondary to running (lower limb injury); throwing (shoulder and elbow) and bowling (back), most are associated with fast bowling. It’s the speed of delivery and force of the action that make bowlers more injury prone.

 Players from Scarborough cricket club stated the most common injury from bowling is to the sides of the trunk (intercostals, internal obliques). They are usually muscular in nature. Bowling involves repetitive twisting and extension of the trunk in a short period. In all pace bowlers studied the injury occurs on the non-bowling side, the arm is forcefully pulled through from a elevated position to allow the bowling arm to release the ball, it’s the eccentric contraction that places the muscle under maximum tension. Other injuries include low back pain (bowling), broken fingers (batting), rotator cuff injury and tennis elbow (fielding). The ankle is also an area of weakness, body tissue and footwear must absorb large ground reaction forces 4-9x the bowler’s body weight.

 Tips from the lads

When bowling

Keep everything in the same direction, towards your target, keep your hips, shoulders parallel, in line, and follow through the delivery in the direction where you intend the ball to go. Any part of the body which becomes out of line is susceptible to injury.
Don’t arch your back to much, this can lead to stress fractures and disk degeneration
Keep your elbow above shoulder height – this helps to place the shoulder in a more elevated position decreasing the chances of rotator cuff problems like impingement.
Don’t mix bowling actions – there are 3 main bowling action front-on and side-on, the third is a mixed action of both. The side –on action is associated with the lowest incidence of injury as it reduces the degree of spinal extension and lat flexion of the lower back. The mixed action is believed to result in excessive twisting of the spine placing stress on the lumbar spine making it prone to injury. The evidence – the majority of studies I have read on cricket fast bowlers show the use of the mixed action leading to higher disc degeneration using MRI, compared to front-on and side-on techniques.
Don’t lead with your elbow, this can cause tennis elbow and is related more to fielders.
Don’t play on tired muscles, technique tends to deteriorate and muscles have slower reaction times.

There are many more technical aspects to cricket so it's important to have a qualified coach looking at your technique. Bowling is the most skill full to master but batting and fielding come with risks to. Fielders tend to get injured when diving for a catch learning to slide is important as well as learning how to throw the ball back. Batting has a variety of shots, learning which ones and whether to let the ball go or go for the hit is vital in avoiding injury.

Again with all sports the higher you’re standard of play the more help you get with prevention of injury. Flexibility, core stability and strength programmes specific to cricket are essential in preventing injury on field no matter what ability.