Journal of Sports Sciences

ISSN: 0264-0414 (Print) 1466-447X (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjsp20

The science and medicine of cricket: an overview

and update

Roger M. Bartlett

To cite this article: Roger M. Bartlett (2003) The science and medicine of cricket: an overview
and update, Journal of Sports Sciences, 21:9, 733-752, DOI: 10.1080/0264041031000140257

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/0264041031000140257

Published online: 13 Jun 2008.

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Journal of Sports Sciences, 2003, 21, 733-752
iTaylor&Francis
healthsciences

The science and medicine of cricket: an overview and

update
ROGER M. BARTLETT*
The Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Shefield Hallam University, Collegiate Hall, Shefield SlO ZBP, UK

Accepted 10 May 2003

Research into the science and medicine underlying cricket performance and injury has progressed since the First
World Congress of Science and Medicine in Cricket in 1999. This review covers material on the physiological
and psychological demands of the game and preparation for it, the biomechanics and motor control of cricket
skills, the psychology of team dynamics, performance analysis and cricket injuries. Technological aspects of
cricket equipment are also covered, where such research could influence injury risk or player performance.
Fielding remains the least studied of the skills. Much more research needs to be done before we can gain a full
understanding of the scientific aspects of the game. There is a need to address common definitions of injury,
along with more research into injury mechanisms. Research on batting needs to bring together motor control
and biomechanics more fully. The fitness demands of the game are still poorly understood, along with the
mechanisms causing fatigue. Evaluation of the efficacy of intervention strategies needs to continue and to
develop. The applications of research need to be communicated more to coaches and players - for example, in
team dynamics - so that they can be applied, and tested further, in international matches.

Keywords: batting, bowling, cricket, equipment, fielding, injuries.

Introduction published material on cricket in the English language

Cricket is often thought of as a sport in which the main
competitions are more individual-to-individual than in
any other team sport. Much research has concentrated
on the batters and bowlers, but far less on the fielders,
rather than on team dynamics. This overview and
update will follow a similar path and cover material
published since the First World Congress of Science
and Medicine in Cricket, held in Lilleshall, England
from 14 to 17 June 1999. Comprehensive reviews of
batting (Stretch et al., 2000a), bowling (Bartlett et al.,
1996; Elliott et al., 1996; Elliott, 2000) and preventing
cricket injuries (Finch et al., 1999) already exist. This
review will draw on material from these, and earlier
research papers, only to illuminate more recent
research. The physiological and psychological demands
of the game and preparation for it, the biomechanics
and motor control of cricket skills, the psychology of
team dynamics, performance analysis and cricket
injuries are all covered. Technological aspects of cricket
equipment are covered if that research could influence
injury risk or player performance. This review draws on
* e-mail: r.m.bartlett@shu.ac.uk
from science and medicine journals across the world.
Coaching reports, publications from other sports, and
'mainstream' science and medical research that might
have applications to cricket are not, in general,
included.
Fielding
Despite the adage that 'catches win matches', research
into fielding in cricket is sparse compared with that for
batting and bowling. The main focus of such research
has been the interceptive skill of catching (e.g. Morris,
1976). This skill varies considerably from the wicket
keeper and slips, who mostly intercept a fast moving
ball coming off the edge of the bat and reaching them
below chest height, and outfielders, who mostly try to
catch a ball falling from above head height. Other
aspects of fielding have not been well researched. These
include maintaining focus and concentration over 2 h
periods, the fitness requirements of standing for such
periods within a 6 h playing day, and the skills of
stopping, retrieving and throwing the ball. The same is
true for the very specific demands imposed on the
wicket keeper. That player has to focus on and

Journal of Spons Sciences ISSN 0264-0414 print/ISSN 1466-447X online O 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd
DOI: lO.lO8O/O264O4lO3lOOOl4O257

concentrate for every ball delivered, adopt a body
position that is far from ergonomically sound, catch and
stop all balls within range, and move quickly to the
wicket after any hit that required a fielder to stop and
retrieve the ball. In the modem game, he is also
expected to 'sledge' the batters to undermine their
confidence and concentration. Little recent research
exists on injuries to fielders. Finch et al. (1999)
reviewed research into the whole gamut of cricketing
injuries. Their review included little on fielding
compared with the other skills in the game. Fielders
have the most upper limb injuries (26%; Stretch, 1993),
possibly because of the forces involved in throwing long
distances. The seasonal injury incidence rate for fielders
in South African schoolboy cricket was less, at 23%,
than for batters (30%) and bowlers (47%). Barton
(1997) considered that most hand injuries in amateur
cricketers are caused while trying to catch the ball, but
he provided no corroborative data.
Cricket pundits generally agree that one of the
benefits of the one-day game has been vastly improved
standards of fielding, owing to both improved fitness
and, perhaps, better techniques. One of the most
spectacular new techniques is the sliding stop. This is
used for interception or retrieval before the ball reaches
the boundary. Such retrieval might not have been
possible using the conventional long-barrier intercep-
tion or a conventional retrieval. Alternatively, use of the
sliding stop might save time compared with the more
traditional techniques; this time advantage might enable
a return of the ball to save a run or effect a run out. The
sliding stop technique, although recommended by the
England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) for coaching
stages 2 and 3, is not widely coached at the lower ages
and standards of the game. It does involve some risk of
an injury that had not previously been reported, for
example, by the studies of Stretch in South Africa (e.g.
Stretch, 1993, 1995).
Von Hagen et al. (2000) reported the case of an
English club cricketer, aged 17 years, who sustained a
bucket handle tear of the medial meniscus in his left
knee when performing a sliding stop incorrectly. When
performed correctly, the technique, for a right-handed
fielder, involves sliding on the left buttock and knee
with the right leg extended out in front, the left knee
flexed and the left hand aiding balance. The ball is then
collected in the right hand and the right foot lands on
the ground; the momentum of the slide and a push on
the ground by the left hand brings the fielder upright
ready to throw the ball, all in a smooth movement. In
the case reported, the cricketer failed to bring his right
foot into contact with the ground so that the momen-
tum of the slide was not used to bring him upright; he
also did not use his left arm sufficiently to lift himself.
Instead, his left knee extended actively, rather than
Bartlett
passively in the correct technique, when all of his weight
was on that leg in a fully flexed position. The large
torque that resulted at the knee was considered by Von
Hagen et al. (2000) to have caused the meniscal tear.
Their conclusion that 'The sliding stop should be
discouraged as a means of fielding in cricket unless
appropriately coached' might seem somewhat over-
dramatic, based only on a single incident. Nevertheless,
careful monitoring of injuries caused by this technique
is needed and it should be taught properly to younger
players. Young cricketers will seek to emulate test
players and the sliding stop is far more athletic and
spectacular than its conventional rivals.
Throwing in cricket has received little attention since
the study of Elliott and Anderson (1990), which
focused largely on age-related differences in throwing
patterns. Cook and Strike (2000) reported a three-
dimensional case study of an English County cricketer
performing five throws under each of seven conditions:
(I) from 20 m, maximal throw, angled approach, ball
stationary; (2) as (I) but with ball rolling; (3) as (1) but
straight approach; (4) as (2) but straight approach; (5)
as (2) but from 40 m; (6) as (4) but from 40 m; (7) as
(6) but submaximal throws. All throws, except the
submaximal ones, were thrown to a wicket keeper in a
target area including the stumps and 1 m either side,
aiming to reach the keeper as quickly as possible and
accurately enough for him to effect a run out. The
submaximal throws had only the accuracy requirement.
The throw judged best on accuracy and time in each set
was analysed. Cook and Strike (2000) reported the
expected sequence of increasing magnitudes of joint
peak linear speeds from proximal to distal: hip-
shoulder-elbow-wrist-finger. Temporal analysis
showed identical times of peak wrist and finger speeds
for all 20 m throws and one 40 m throw; peak shoulder
speeds occurred before, or at, the time of peak hip
speeds for all 40 m throws. The authors attributed these
temporal observations to the increased potential for
inaccuracy at the greater distance and the foot place-
ment - open, neutral or closed - at lead foot contact.
Unfortunately, they did not report what the foot
placement was for each of the throws analysed, nor
did they comment on the identical timing of peak wrist
and finger speeds for the 20 m throws. It is also
regrettable, given recent interest in long axis segment
rotations in overarm throwing, that the software
package used did not allow calculations of humeral
internal-external rotation. Cook and Strike (2000)
considered these movements to be the driving force
for the arm's acceleration phase. Clearly, too much
should not be read into a case study in which only one
of five throws from each condition was analysed. We
can but speculate on how many of the findings of Cook
and Strike (2000) might generalize to other players and
The science and medicine of cricket
how many were idiosyncrasies of the player studied.
Further studies of throwing techniques are needed, with
long axis rotations measured, in which multiple trials of
more players are analysed as multiple single-person
designs rather than group designs, which obscure
individual differences.
Myers and O'Brien (2001) considered that shoulder
injuries in cricket were less than would be expected in a
sport that incorporates throwing. The shoulder injuries
that do occur were largely attributable to fielders
throwing accurately for distance; bowling could then
further aggravate these injuries. Eccentric loading in the
later phases of the throwing action can lead to rotator
cuff lesions, most commonly from the mid-supraspina-
tus to the mid-infraspinatus. Shoulder injuries were less
common in bowling because of the rules governing the
technique, although overuse injuries to the rotator cuff
muscles do still occur. Myers and O'Brien (2001) did
not link these injuries to training, although specific
rotator cuff exercises are unlikely to form part of the
training regimen of most sub-elite players.
Other changes in the game of cricket as a result of the
growth of the one-day game have been white (rather
than red) balls, black (rather than white) sightscreens
and artificial (rather than natural) lighting. Previous
research (e.g. Koslow, 1985) supports changes in
reaction time as chromatic cues change, with the
luminance contrasts of the ball and background being
particularly important. Ball colour had no effect when
luminance effects were compensated for or for highly
skilled catchers (Morris, 1976). Scott et al. (2000)
investigated the effects on simulated slip catching by
five professional cricketers of ball colour (white or red)
and luminance (57 1, 1143 and 1714 lux). Umpires can
offer batters the option of leaving the field when the
luminance is below 1000 lux. The study was carried out
in a laboratory with the ball projected at 20 m - s - '
(72 km-h-') from a ball machine hidden behind a
screen that was coloured to simulate a crowd back-
ground. All five players were familiar with playing with
both coloured balls and were not colour blind. After
practice trials and with 5 min rest periods between
blocks, each player attempted to catch with two hands
60 deliveries in three blocks of 20 (10 red, 10 white)
projected under the three different lighting conditions
in random order. No significant differences were found
for means and standard deviations of movement
initiation time or the Wickstrom catching performance
score for ball colour, luminance or their interaction.
Effect sizes were also low, except for a trend towards
greater variability in movement initiation time at lower
luminance with a 0.477 effect size, close to the 0.5 value
regarded as moderately meaningful (Cohen, 1992). The
authors considered this to show that, although initiation
times did differ, the catchers' expertise prevented a
significant deterioration in performance. This study was
limited to County players experienced at catching both
white and red balls. The conditions were somewhat
artificial - slip fielders pick up different cues from a ball
edged off the bat that would have been available from a
projected ball emerging from a hole in a multi-coloured
screen. Furthermore, the ball speed was much lower
than would arise from a thin edge against a fast bowler
releasing the ball at around 140 km - h-' . Possibly the
non-significance and low effect sizes were due to the
small sample size of five. This study deserves replica-
tion, with more catches, catchers of differing age, sex
and standard, and in a more realistic setting.
This overview does not discuss in depth research that
has addressed fundamental aspects of human biology,
which affect cricket performance. In the context of
catching, however, the reader interested in visual factors
should consult the review of Regan (1997) and the
theoretically focused review of Regan and Gray (2000).
In these reviews, the authors consider various visual
factors in hitting and catching, contrast and compare
the three schools of thought about how interceptive
actions are performed successfully by skilled players,
and challenge the validity of some tau-focused research.
Two outstanding questions for researchers into visual
factors in cricket catching and batting were posed in the
second of the two reviews:
0 What is the relative importance of monocular versus
binocular information in diverse eye-limb coordina-
tion tasks such as hitting or catching a ball?
0 What is the relative importance of predicting 'when'
and 'where', versus making use of lawful relation-
ships between perception and action in sport?
Answers to both of these questions for the inter-
ceptive skills of cricket catching and batting would not
only add to our knowledge of the game, but also could
have an impact on practising these skills in training.
Historically, cricket is not a game associated with
high fitness except, perhaps, for fast bowlers. However,
the successes of obviously fit Test sides, such as
Australia and South Africa, have added a strong
argument to the case for training to improve the fitness
of cricketers rather than relying on the game itself to
generate appropriately fit, or unfit, players. In their
excellent review of the physiological requirements of the
game, Noakes and Durandt (2000) concluded that little
is known about the physiological requirements of
cricket. They reported that South Afi-ican national
cricketers competing in the 1999 World Cup had
similar anaerobic power and aerobic endurance, per
unit body mass, to that country's national rugby union
players in their 1999 World Cup. Some of the
misunderstanding about the physiological demands of

the game probably arises from a general lack of
understanding of the demands of sports, such as
cricket, which involve intermittent activity. It is also
difficult to separate the demands of fielding from those
of batting or bowling because, with the exception of the
wicket keeper in some teams, most players are specialist
batters or bowlers who just happen to field. The
physiological demands on a slip fielder may well be
insignificant compared with psychological ones,
whereas an outfielder is likely to be involved in
intermittent sprinting. Those designing a properly
structured training programme should have access to
such knowledge, but little progress has been made in
this direction since 2000, although so-called fitness
'gurus' are now commonly attached to Test teams.
Batting
Stretch et al. (2000a) provided a comprehensive review
of batting in men's cricket. Morphological and physio-
logical factors received little attention, reflecting the
limited research into these aspects of the game. The
statement that batters tend to be larger and taller than
bowlers (based on research by Stretch, 1987) is
supported by the review of Noakes and Durandt
(2000). The call by Stretch et al. (2000a) for future
research to address the demands of batting in particular
rather than cricket in general echoes a similar comment
for fielding in the previous section of this review.
Reviewing the demands of cricket batting, Noakes
and Durandt (2000) cited the results of Gore et al.
(1993) that the mean heart rate during a day's cricket
rarely rises above 128 beats - min-' for batters (and
fielders). They went on to estimate the peak activity of a
batter during a one-day game. This hypothetical player
scored 100 runs while the other batters also scored 100
runs. With each player scoring 50 singles, 20 twos, 10
threes and 20 fours, each would cover 3.2 krn in an
activity time of 8 min - an average running speed of
24 k m -h-' and with at least 110 decelerations. From
these hypothetical but quite representative data, Noakes
and Durandt (2000) deduced that the physiological
demands of batting in the one-day game are substantial.
Players need to be fit to reproduce their performances
over a long series of one-day games, which also subject
each player to around 3.5 h of vigorous fielding. These
series of one-day games often precede or follow a Test
series of three to five matches, or are sandwiched
between two three-match Test series. The picture of
cricket as a leisurely activity is clearly fallacious for
international batters. It also explains the excellent
fitness of South African international batters reported
by Noakes and Durandt (2000). They found that these
batters had an average body fat composition of about
Bartlett
12%, the same as the bowlers. The batters, compared
with the bowlers, had a higher predicted V O ~ , ~(based
,
on a 20 m shuttle run), were faster running a simulated
three runs with quicker turn times, and had similar leg
press, bench press and 35 m sprint performances.
There were also no real physiological differences
between the two cricket groups and international rugby
players.
Noakes and Durandt (2000) went on to speculate
that the stress of cricket is due to the repeated eccentric
muscle damage resulting from the repeated decelera-
tions that occur in batting (and fielding). Substantial
muscle strength is needed to reduce muscle damage
arising from repeated eccentric contractions. This
observation is supported by the findings of Thompson
et al. (1999) for the similar activity of shuttle runs. No
further research on the physiological demands of cricket
batting is apparent since 2000.
A similar lack of recent research into the biomecha-
nics of cricket batting is evident since the appearance of
the review of Stretch et al. (2000a), most of it focused
on earlier work of Stretch and various co-workers (e.g.
Stretch et al., 1998a). Although these studies looked at
both the kinematics and kinetics (grip forces) of batting,
they focused on a limited range of shots. This leaves
plenty of scope for further research, for example into
other shots and the changes in grip forces when batting
with 'soft' rather than 'hard' hands. Further details of
research into the biomechanics of batting are contained
in Stretch et al. (2000a), in which links are also drawn to
the paper's section on motor control in cricket batting,
mostly applying results from other comparable sports.
The ecological approach to cricket batting in that review
has led to several PhD proposals, particularly around
the functional role of variability in batting and drawing
together biomechanics and motor control approaches.
None of these studies has yet advanced sufficiently to
research publications.
Stretch and various co-workers have reported studies
of the accuracy and consistency of shot reproduction in
cricket (Stretch et al., 1998b, 2000b). Stretch et al.
(1998b) looked at the effect of using a narrow width bat
(25 mm) on these factors. Experimental and control
groups, each of nine Cricket Academy players, were
used. The experimental group had three training
sessions per week with the narrow bat, in addition to
their normal training, for 5 weeks. The bat was
instrumented by placing copper foil electrodes onto
the bat in four strips along the length of the bat,
enabling the point of impact to be recorded for 60
deliveries before and after the coaching period.
Although there was a modest improvement in consis-
tency for the experimental group during the study, it
was nowhere near significant (analysis of covariance:
F = 0.036, P = 0.56 between the two groups). Using 13
The science and medicine of cricket
players from the same Academy and similarly instru-
mented bat, Stretch et al. (2000b) studied the effects of
the stimulant fencamfamine on the accuracy and
consistency of shot reproduction. The players were
randomly assigned to receive the stimulant - which is
the banned substance most commonly used in South
Afiican sport - and placebo in a crossover design 2 h
before testing. The team coach also rated each shot as
either good or bad. The results showed a non-
significant difference between groups for the instru-
mented data (P=0.05 16) and a significant improve-
ment when using the drug for the coach's ratings
(P= 0.007). Although the reliability of the results was
not ascertained, the significant finding for the coach's
ratings and the P-value of 0.0516 for the instrumented
data, given the small group size, warrant follow-up
studies.
Land and McLeod (2000) studied the eye move-
ments of three batters of County, Minor County and
'incompetent' standard. Four balls of different lengths -
over-pitched, good, short and very short - were
projected towards the batters at 2 5 m . s - '
(90 km . h-') from a bowling machine. A single head-
mounted video camera recorded the scene ahead and
an image of the left eye as it moved in its orbit, allowing
gaze direction to be measured to l o accuracy. The
results of this study showed that the batters did not keep
their eye on the ball. Instead, the eyes focused on the
point of delivery, and then maintained that gaze
position for the first part of ball flight. A saccade
followed, bringing the fovea below the ball, close to
where the ball would bounce. This gaze direction was
then maintained for a period before and after the
bounce. Thereafter, head and eye moved down quickly
trying to track the last part of ball flight.
Variations occurred between the consistent pattern
for each ball length and batter. The latency before the
downward saccade increased with ball length, particu-
larly for the 'incompetent' batter, probably controlled
by the downward release velocity of the ball on the
stationary retina (Land and McLeod, 2000). As the
length of the delivery increased, so also did the duration
of the smooth tracking after the saccade, particularly for
the County batter. The visual strategies of the three
batters were similar. However, the County batter used
more pursuit tracking, relying on this and the saccade to
sight onto the bounce spot. The 'incompetent' batter
responded more slowly to the ball delivery, needing at
least 200 ms to initiate a saccade.
The results of Land and McLeod (2000) provide a
real insight into visual strategies in batting. However,
the study had several limitations, of which the most
crucial were the small sample size of three, the slow
bowling speed compared with that of the fastest
bowlers, who release the ball at up to 40 m . s-'
(144 k m . h-'), and the artificial environment. Batting
against a bowling machine is vastly different, at least
up to the release of the ball, from batting against a
bowler (e.g. Gibson and Adams, 1989). Until
researchers establish fully the differences between
these two forms of batting, the applicability of Land
and McLeod's (2000) results to competition, and the
resulting implications for visual training, will remain
in doubt. In this context, the research of Renshaw
and Fairweather (2000) is noteworthy. They assessed
the perceptual discrimination ability of six senior
batters in each of three distinct standards - national,
regional and club. Such abilities are crucial to batting
success, particularly against high-quality wrist spin
bowlers, who have around five different deliveries. At
the lowest speed for spin bowling, about 19 m - s-', if
the ball bounces less than 3.6 m in front of the
batter, the batter has only 0.2 s to respond to any
change in direction (McLeod and Jenkins, 1991). The
batter needs, therefore, to predict directional changes
after the ball bounces from pre-bounce information,
either provided during flight or by the bowler's body
actions. Renshaw and Fairweather (2000) used a
visual occlusion technique. Twelve deliveries of five
types of wrist spin bowling - leg spinner, top spinner,
googly, flipper and back spinner - were presented
randomly by back-projecting life-size video recordings
of a national standard bowler onto a screen. The
batters were familiarized with each type of delivery
and used their own equipment and cricket clothing.
Two viewing conditions were used. In the first, the
batters viewed the whole of the run up and then ball
flight until ground contact. In the second condition,
the viewing was occluded after 0.08 s of ball flight.
Six of each of the five types of delivery for each of the
two conditions were randomly presented.
The national and regional players discriminated
googlies better than club players, and national players
discriminated flippers better than regional and club
players. All standards found the leg spinner the easiest
to discriminate and the top spinner the most difficult.
The main effect of viewing conditions was non-
significant. Clearly, the more expert batters, with
previous experience of expert wrist spin bowlers who
have a variety of deliveries in their repertoire, discrimi-
nated better between deliveries than those without this
prior knowledge. The lack of any significant difference
between the occluded and non-occluded conditions
implies that no advantage was gained from viewing the
flight of the ball. This is slightly surprising and could
have been due to a lack of previous exposure to some
types of delivery. It also suggests the need for caution in
interpreting results from studies using a bowling
machine and might call into question the use of such
devices in net practice. Further research into these
 issues is needed to supplement the research of Gibson
and Adams (1989).
The final three sections of the batting review of
Stretch et al. (2000a) dealt with injuries, equipment and
the psychology of batting. Little research has appeared
since on the first and last of these areas. Finger injuries
to batters continue to be a nuisance (Alexander et al.,
1998), often incapacitating Test players for several
important matches. Improvements in the impact-
cushioning properties of gloves need to be made to
reduce the incidence of this injury. The lack of research
into psychological factors in batting is puzzling, given
the pressures on batters in Test and international one-
day games and the presence, in many cases, of a sports
psychologist in the support staff of touring cricket
teams.
Far more research into cricket equipment has
occurred, whether to reduce injury or enhance
performance. In addition to the research reported by
Stretch et al. (2000a), Alexander et al. (1998)
reported progress on cricket glove design and
Knowles et al. (1998) and Stretch (2000) have
reported further developments on cricket helmets.
Alexander et al. (1998) surveyed County cricketers.
Of the 59 respondents, 66% used the 'sausage finger'
style of glove and 34% the 'square finger' style. The
main factors that led to selection of a glove were
reported to be comfort, protection and contractual
obligation to the glove supplier. Only 8% of the
sample were happy with the protection the gloves
afforded their fingers and thumbs. Hand or finger
fractures were sustained by 39% of the group when
batting. Twenty-five of the 44 breaks were on the
bottom and 19 on the top hand. The thumb and first
finger of the bottom hand plus the small finger of the
top hand were most commonly fractured. After
talking to players, physiotherapists and other experts,
a new design of glove was specified. Current foams
used in cricket gloves are unsuitable for cushioning
impacts at the release speeds of the fastest bowlers,
which can exceed 140 km . h-'. Although foams that
absorb more energy could resist such impacts, they
are too rigid and deform permanently. After testing
various designs of glove and insert, the final preferred
design incorporated a pre-bent double finger Kevlar
insert protecting the first two fingers of the bottom
hand. In addition, it had 'sausage' fingers - to
maximize protection and eliminate the problem of
hinged fingers opening up on impact, thereby expos-
ing joints - and a Kevlar sheet over the back of the
hand. Foam padding was used around the web
between the thumb and first finger of the bottom
hand and along the outside of the top hand. It will be
interesting to see if any manufacturer takes up this
design and, if so, what effect it has on injuries.
The performance of a cricket helmet depends on its
two main components - a stiff shell to spread the impact
force and a softer lining to cushion the blow and absorb
impact energy. Stretch (2000) used a drop test
equivalent to an impact of a ball released at
44.4 m - s-' (160 km . h-'). The impact sites were right
temple, forehead and back of the helmet. An accel-
erometer recorded impact accelerations, for which the
recommended safety standard is a maximum of 300 g.
Of the 18 impact sites (three sites for each of six
helmets), 11 met the safety standard. Three helmets
met the standard at all three impact sites. These helmets
featured, respectively, a multiple-density lining of
ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), a high-density EVA lining
and a moulded polyurethane insert. The inner layers of
the two helmets that failed at two impact sites, and the
one that failed at all sites, had a low-density EVA lining.
This unsuitability of low-density foam linings was also
reported by Knowles et al. (1998), who tested combina-
tions of shells and foams by firing a cricket ball from a
bowling machine at 25 m.s-'. This bowling speed is
about that of a spinner's quicker delivery and well below
the speeds of up to 40 m . s-' from fast bowlers from
which helmets need to protect the batter. Nevertheless,
Knowles et al. (1998) found that the stiffer the shell, the
better the protection, although changes were small for
flexural rigidities above 50 N . m. The stiffer foam gave
better results, but the effect was not as substantial as
increasing foam thickness. However, thicker foam
meets customer resistance because of the increased
helmet size. The message from both of these studies is
clear: batters should avoid using helmets that have low-
density foam linings. Batters should wear helmets if
they are to avoid the risk of being killed from an impact
of a cricket ball on the head, as reported, for example,
by de Bruxelles (2002).
The performance of a cricket bat is rather restricted
by conservative rules that have prevented novel designs
(see Stretch et al., 2000a). The performance of the bat
modelled as a rigid body depends upon various factors,
including the location of the 'sweet spot' and the
coefficient of restitution between bat and ball. However,
neither the ball nor the bat is a rigid body during impact
and finite element analysis (FEA) should allow a deeper
insight into the behaviour of the bat on impact.
Grant and Davidson (1998) described the develop-
ment of a test procedure to measure the coefficient of
restitution of a bat at various impact points, but no
results were reported. McKellar et al. (1998) reported a
system using an instrumented bat that allowed the
accurate measurement of the position of impact with
the ball. The rationale behind this development was to
analyse a batter's strokes with a view to improving
coaching methods and batting technique. Although
examples of impact distribution along and across the
The science and medicine of cricket
bat were reported, and although it is clear that the
distribution of impacts should be much less for good
players, no applications to coaching or technique
improvement were reported.
Penrose and Hose (1998) reported an FEA approach
to bat-ball impact, trying to optimize bat design. Their
results showed that the mechanics of the impact are
accurately described by classical Hertzian theory; the
principal factors affecting the post-impact ball velocity
are the flexural properties of the bat. These flexural
properties directly depend on the bat's geometry. The
shape and frequency of the first vibration mode are
important and have been associated previously with the
'middle' of the bat (Knowles et al., 1996). Penrose and
Hose (1998) thought it would also be beneficial to tune
the second and third vibrational mode frequencies so
that their half-cycle time was close to the time of
contact. This would mean that the strain energy of that
mode would return to zero as contact energy, enabling
more energy to be returned to the ball. They
recommended that, in future bat design, the bat should
be shaped to control its flexural and vibrational
properties.
Bowling
Research into cricket bowling has, since the early days
of the investigations of Elliott and his co-workers at the
University of Western Australia (e.g. Foster et al.,
1989), focused on low-back injuries in fast bowling.
The current view is that these injuries are associated
more with the mixed technique than with the front-on
or side-on techniques. The reviews of Elliott et al.
(1996) and Elliott (2000) have comprehensive coverage
of the occurrence of back injuries in fast bowlers in
cricket. Although the exact mechanisms of disc bulging
and degeneration, and subsequent neural arch frac-
tures, have not been established, the association
between these injuries and the mixed bowling technique
are very strong. Indeed, a statistically significant
association between the two was reported by Elliott et
al. (1992). The causes are probably:
0 greater rotational stress in the lumbar spine of mixed
technique bowlers, owing to the counter-rotation of
the shoulders with respect to the hips in this
technique;
0 the hyperextension, or backward arching, of the
lumbar spine that follows;
0 the high impact forces with the ground experienced
by all fast bowlers.
Rasch (1989) explicitly linked this triad - high
compressive loading, rotational stress and backward
arching - to low-back injury. Such a clear association
between a sports technique and a specific injury is, to
date, rare. It is encouraging that the cricketing
authorities have taken these research findings seriously
and have sought to reduce dramatically the incidence of
this potentially injurious technique among young fast
bowlers. For instance, the ECB now provides coaches
with information on how to coach the front-on
technique, how to recognize the mixed technique, and
how to convert the latter technique into the far less
injurious side-on or front-on technique. It is only
recently that the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC)
Coaching Book has acknowledged the front-on techni-
que (Lewis, 1994). Before that, the side-on technique
was the only recognized bowling style. This might have
contributed to the high incidence of mixed technique
bowlers, as their teachers and coaches tried to convert
front-on bowlers into side-on bowlers, but instead
made them mixed. Even Lewis (1994) failed to mention
the mixed technique, although Elliott and Foster (1989)
and Bartlett (1992) had warned of the injury risks of this
technique. This omission has since been rectified by
ECB posters and other coaching material.
This close association is not to suggest that the mixed
technique is the only factor in this injury. Hard floor
surfaces in indoor nets, inadequately cushioned foot-
wear, excessive deliveries, particularly by young bow-
lers, physical preparation and age are all facets of this
overuse condition, but have not been researched to the
same extent as the bowling style (Gray et al., 2000).
Again, it is encouraging that the authorities of the
game have acted to restrict the number of overs
bowled by young fast bowlers (Bell, 1999). Measures
have been taken to put shock pads into the floor
surfaces in indoor cricket schools (see, for example,
www.essexcricket.org.uklfacility.shtml) . Scope still ex-
ists for research into what footwear would provide best
protection from injury for fast bowlers performing on
the variety of ground surfaces that they will encounter in
practice and competition.
Walker et al. (1999) reported a 4 year prospective
study of 79 young cricket fast bowlers using magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI). These bowlers had a high
observed incidence of stress fractures of the lumbar
neural arch, as did 8 of the 13 elite fast bowlers in the
study of Engstrom et al. (1997). In companion studies,
Engstrom et al. (1999, 2000) proposed that paraspinal
muscle hypertrophy is an important intrinsic factor in
these stress fractures. They reasoned that strenuous
prolonged loading was a stimulus for asymmetric
hypertrophy that, with a concomitant shear loading,
predisposed bowlers to stress fractures of the neural
arch. Twelve of the bowlers in this study had these
fractures as well as more than 10% asymmetry of the
quadratus lumborum volume on the bowling side.

Walker et al. (1999) proposed that the structural
attachments of the quadratus lumborum on the
transverse processes of L4 and above, and its functional
role as a dynamic stabilizer of the lumbar spine, were
consistent with the fractures found. That is, 90% of the
fractures were to the L4 neural arch and all on the side
of the non-bowling arm. Additionally, the fractures
occurred around 15-1 6 years, the age at which post-
pubertal increases in the bulk and strength of skeletal
muscle occur, potentially increasing shear loading of the
neural arches. A further factor was the increased
workloads of promising fast bowlers of this age range
at a period of decreased relative bone mineralization.
The association between muscle volume asymmetry
and injury had an effect size of 1.2. Engstrom et al.
(1997) also reported significantly greater asymmetries
in the volumes of the quadratus lumborum and psoas
for their 13 fast bowlers compared with their 10
controls. The accuracy of assessing quadratus lurnbor-
urn volume from MRI was not reported in any of these
studies.
The 4 year study of these Queensland scientists
(Engstrom et al., 1997, 1999, 2000; Walker et al., 1999)
has produced very important results. However, a clear
association between the findings of this group of
investigators and specific bowling techniques remains
to be established. This is a little surprising, as Engstrom
et al. (1997) did report a biomechanical two-dimen-
sional split-screen video study of 550 fast bowlers and a
three-dimensional high-speed video analysis of six elite
fast bowlers. The results of that study follow the already
established pattern of the incidence of the mixed
technique, but were not related to the radiological
study that makes up the rest of their paper. Hopefully,
this group will report such associations in the near
future.
Craig Smith, physiotherapist to the South African
Test team, has reported a high occurrence of poster-
ior talar impingement syndrome (PTIS) in South
Afi-ican fast bowlers. Of 23 bowlers, 8 developed
PTIS and five required surgery (Smith, 1999). This
syndrome arises fiom repeated episodes of forced
plantar flexion of the front foot. Smith (1999)
attributed PTIS to worn bowlers' foot-holes on the
popping crease, a long delivery stride, an os trigonum
or enlarged posterior process of the talus, abnormal
foot biomechanics - particularly increased sub-talar
pronation - and overuse. Smith (2000a,b) also looked
at hamstring injuries among social and elite fast
bowlers. He considered that these injuries occurred in
the pre-delivery position when the front leg is weight-
bearing and the hamstring muscles are eccentrically
lengthening while the trunk flexes and the pelvis tilts
anteriorly in the follow-through. Contributing factors
were postulated to be poor muscle strength, reduced
Bartlett
flexibility, trunk and pelvis instability, lumbo-sacral-
pelvic insufficiency and altered neural mechanics. He
also considered that future research should look at the
effect of front leg angle on the occurrence of these
injuries.
Gregory et al. (2002) provided an interesting diver-
sion from fast bowling by comparing injuries in young
(mean age 14.9) fast (n = 70) and spin (n= 42) bowlers,
recruited from the centres of excellence of three English
county cricket clubs. Data on previous injuries were
obtained to compare the influence of possible con-
founding variables and prospective data from telephone
contacts. During the 6 month prospective study, 95
cricket injuries were reported. Of these, 44 were
attributable to bowling, of which 29 interfered with
bowling. The period prevalence of the injuries that
interfered with bowling was 0.338 to fast bowlers and
0.146 to spinners (P=0.122). Although the injury
incidence was not significantly different between the
groups, the fast bowlers suffered mainly ankle sprains
and knee injuries with no obvious traumatic cause,
while wrist spinners sustained shoulder injuries.
Although low-back pain was equally common in both
groups, grade IV low-back injury only occurred in fast
bowlers, but with a lower incidence than reported in
earlier Australian (e.g. Hardcastle et al., 1992) and
South African (e.g. Stretch, 1995) studies. The lower
than expected incidence of injury reduced the power of
this study of Gregory et al. (2002).
Identification of a technique that is associated with
injury is one thing; doing something to reduce or
eliminate it is another thing altogether. A low-budget
project with age-group fast bowlers of an English county
cricket club over 5 years has had individual successes in
changing young bowlers into side-on or front-on with
concomitant reductions in low-back pain (R. Bartlett,
unpublished observations). The process had much to
recommend it, involving qualitative video analysis and
an intervention to change technique based on indepen-
dent analyses by the coaches and scientists involved.
The next stage was to involve the bowler and his parents
and to demonstrate specific activities to change
technique. However, the low budget did not allow the
intervention to be sufficiently fiequent, to be closely
followed up or to involve enough bowlers to draw
meaningful conclusions. Burnett et al. (1996) reported
the inability of a coaching seminar, which highlighted
the dangers of the mixed technique, to decrease the rate
of disc degeneration in young fast bowlers over a 2%
year period. Elliott and Khangure (1999) looked at the
effects of a coaching course plus group practice sessions
on reducing shoulder counter-rotation and disc degen-
eration in young fast bowlers. Neither shoulder
counter-rotation nor disc degeneration was changed
to a satisfactory extent.
The science and medicine of cricket
The three examples above indicated that an alter-
native approach was needed. Wallis e t al. (2002) studied
the effectiveness of a bowling harness on selected
bowling characteristics after an 8 week coaching
programme. Drop-out reduced the original equal
groups of 22 each to a harness group of 13 and a
non-harness group of 20. Both groups received verbal
guidance from the coach and visual guidance using
video analysis and mirrors. The bowling harness
decreased the use of the mixed technique, but the
improved position at back-foot strike combined with
shoulder counter-rotation led to an increased negative
shoulder separation angle at front-foot strike. The
harness had no effect on reducing lateral flexion to
the left and the bowlers did not retain any desirable
changes to technique after the intervention when the
harness was removed. Clearly, much research remains
to be done into how to change successfully the bowling
action of mixed technique bowlers to reduce their risk
of low-back injury.
The loading on the bowler's musculoskeletal system
at back-foot and front-foot strike is a potential risk
factor for low-back injury. Hurrion e t al. (2000)
provided the latest contribution to research into this
loading. They studied the ground reaction forces on six
fast-medium bowlers. The peak vertical forces for back-
and front-foot strike were, respectively, 2.4 and 5.8
times body weight (BW), similar to previously reported
values that have been in the ranges 2.0-2.9 BW and
3.8-5.5 BW; the 9.0 BW value of Mason et al. (1989)
appears to be an anomaly. The peak vertical loading
rate, which is directly related to jerk - the rate of change
of acceleration - of 205 and 4 1.7 kN . s -' for front-foot
and back-foot contact, respectively, could lead to
overuse injury with repeated exposure. Jerk is associated
with mechanical failure in non-biological systems. Both
the footwear used and aspects of technique, such as a
straight or bent front knee, would contribute to a larger
or smaller peak load rate.
Two of the factors that Gray et al. (2000) associated
with low-back pain in cricket fast bowlers are fatigue
and physical preparation. I have referred in the previous
two sections of this review to the scarcity of research
into the physical demands of cricket and the findings
and views of Noakes and Durandt (2000). Devlin et al.
(2001) reported a study of the effects of exercise-
induced hypohydration on the bowling performance of
seven medium-fast bowlers. Two random conditions
were used. Each condition involved 36 deliveries in a
thermoneutral environment, and then 1 h of intermit-
tent exercise at 28°C followed by 36 more deliveries. In
one condition, bowlers were forced to drink to try to
maintain euhydration; in the other, fluid intake was
restricted. Hydration status had no effect on bowling
speed but it did affect adversely both bowling line and
length. The authors' conclusion - that moderate
exercise-induced hypohydration has a detrimental effect
on skilled motor performance - highlights the need for a
study of the effects of fatigue on factors associated with
fast bowling injury. The view of Noakes and Durandt
(2000), that the repeated eccentric contractions during
fast bowling are the real source of stress for fast bowlers,
also needs to be followed up and related to injury
potential.
One of the criticisms of research into fast bowling
injuries has been the gross measure used to assess
counter-rotation. The angle in the horizontal plane
between the line joining the glenohumeral joints or the
acromion processes and the line joining the hip joints is
not a measure of what is happening in the lumbo-sacral
region. The possible errors in this estimate of counter-
rotation were first discussed by Stockill and Bartlett
(1996) and have more recently been the focus of a study
by Elliott e t al. (2002). Although the location of the
pelvis is appropriately assessed, the other axis could be a
misleading indicator of the location of the thorax.
Elliott e t al. (2002) used three markers positioned on
the thorax so that the orthogonal vector to the thoracic
spine, projected onto the horizontal plane, gave a virtual
shoulder alignment, measured by a six-camera Vicon
system (Oxford Metrics, Oxford, UK). An overhead
video camera, recording at the same frequency of 50
Hz, recorded the two-dimensional horizontal plane
alignment of acromion process markers, which were
also recorded in three dimensions by the Vicon system.
The three-dimensional shoulder alignment (3DS) was
similar to the thorax alignment (T) between back-foot
(BFS) and front-foot strike (FFS), the period during
which injurious loads occur [BFS 214 & 23" (3DS) vs
+ +
BFS 213 20" (T); FFS 192 23" (3DS) vs 196 17" +
(T)].The differences were much greater at ball release
and between the two-dimensional angle and the other
two. Based on this finding, Elliott et al. (2002)
considered that thorax alignment is estimated well by
the three-dimensional reconstruction of the line joining
the acromion processes between back-foot and front-
foot strike. This lends confidence to previous three-
dimensional studies of fast bowling technique.
The controversies surrounding the no-balling by
Australian umpires of one of the best off-spinners and
one of the fastest bowlers of all time have prompted
scientific investigations into the actions of these and
other bowlers. The law prohibits 'throwing' by not
allowing the straightening of the bowling arm partially
or completely during the portion of the delivery swing
that directly precedes ball release. There is some
ambiguity in the definition of this period. Lloyd et al.
(2000) reported the study by the team at the University
of Western Australia of Mutiah Muralitharan. They
showed that 'Murali' maintains a relatively constant
elbow angle in the 0.06 s before ball release and this
angle changed little from the time that the upper arm
was angled vertically downward until ball release. The
appearance of 'throwing' is caused by out-of-plane
viewing of Murali's bowling arm, which has a structural
abnormality at the elbow joint so that, when fully
extended, it is still 37" flexed and is abducted to 18".
This study cleared this bowler's action, although the
laboratory setting might cast doubt on the ecological
validity of the findings. The same group of researchers
has since cleared the action of the Pakistan fast bowler
Shoaib Aktar.
The theme of visual perception of the bowl or throw
decision in cricket was taken up by Sparrow et al.
(2001). Ten cricket umpires, 10 bowlers and 11
physical education students were shown 72 videotaped
point-light displays of cricket deliveries ranging from
highly 'bowl like' to highly 'throw like'. The 'bowlers'
had been filmed from a position perpendicular to the
bowling direction using joint centre markers on black
clothing against a black background, so that only the
points of light created by the markers were visible. The
two-dimensional sequences were digitized to obtain
elbow angles. The three groups of observers made
bowl-throw decisions on a 5-point scale. The maximal
and mean elbow angles were reliably different for bowl
and throw decisions for the umpire and student groups,
although the absolute difference in mean joint angle was
only 2". In other words, the deliveries judged as a bowl
had significantly greater maximal and mean elbow
angles. Umpires judged 59% of deliveries as a bowl in
contrast to 40 and 44% for bowlers and students,
respectively. The umpires were significantly more
confident in their decisions than bowlers. The results
of this study paint a better picture of 'bowl-throw'
decisions by umpires than by others. The more
interesting question of which throws and bowls were
judged correctly could not be addressed because of the
two-dimensional assessment of arm kinematics.
Furthermore, the conditions of the experiment were
vastly different from those in a game. There is some
uncertainty about umpires being able to judge correctly
a ball that is only just thrown. This uncertainty suggests
that the current policy of the International Cricket
Council (ICC) to deal with such decisions away from
the pressured atmosphere of the game is a wise one.
It is perhaps surprising, given the widespread
occurrence of 'no balls' on the front-foot rule for
spinners as well as fast bowlers, that little research has
been published on regulation of the bowler's run-up,
compared with similar research on the long jump.
This is now starting to be rectified. Using methods
similar to those of Hay (1988), Renshaw et al. (2002)
studied the run-ups of three professional medium-fast
bowlers. Despite inconsistent start patterns, two of
the bowlers achieved similar variability to elite long
jumpers by the start of the bound (0.08 m). Each of
these two bowlers adopted a biphasic control strategy.
Decreased footfall variability occurred from the start
of the run-up to the fourth or fifth stride before the
bound. The first of these bowlers then increased
variability from the fifth to the third pre-bound stride
before decreasing again to 0.08 m at bound initiation.
The second of the two bowlers decreased variability
from 0.49 to 0.03 m until one smde before the
bound at which variability increased to 0.15 m. The
authors proposed that this bowler was adjusting stride
length to standardize the length of the bound phase
and subsequent delivery smde. Vernon and Renshaw
(2002) investigated the regulation of the bound and
delivery strides of four elite fast bowlers. They also
found bowler-specific regulation strategies. Two
bowlers apparently used no regulation of these two
strides to obtain accurate foot placement. One of the
other bowlers used a descending-ascending pattern of
footfall variability and the fourth had an ascending-
descending pattern. Although this research is in its
early days, the view of some T V pundits that no-
balling can be easily prevented by a bowler moving
his start marker back a bit is clearly erroneous.
In contrast with the wealth of literature on bowlers'
injuries, that on bowlers' performance is sparse. Bartlett
et al. (1996) reviewed all that had been published until
that time, along with research into the swing of a cricket
ball. Not very much has been published on either topic
since. Glazier et al. (2000) sought to identify significant
relationships between selected anthropometric and
kinematic variables and ball release speed as measured
by a validated speedcheckTM Personal Sports Radar
(Tribar Industries, Canada). The horizontal velocity of
the bowlers at the bound stride was significantly related
to ball release speed (8= 0.53, P< 0.05), owing to the
bowlers using the mixed or front-on technique, which
allow a greater transference of the run-up speed into
release speed. The sequential timing and magnitude of
joint speeds were apparent from right hip to right wrist.
This confirmed the findings of N.P Stockill (unpub-
lished data). His data showed that when the results of
his seniors and juniors were normalized to ball release
speed and the total duration of the delivery stride, the
results of the two groups overlapped. The differences in
timing and peak segment speeds apparent between the
two groups disappeared. The only difference, therefore,
was that the seniors bowled faster than the juniors with
no difference in movement coordination. This finding,
which is important both scientifically and for coaching,
does not appear to have been replicated. Other factors
that Glazier et al. (2000) found to correlate significantly
to the speed of ball release were shoulder-to-wrist
length and total arm length.
The science and medicine of cricket
Portus et al. (2000) studied the influence of a spell of
eight overs on cricket fast bowling speed and accuracy.
Fourteen first-grade fast bowlers took part, and were
filmed from overhead and laterally sited 50 Hz video
cameras to obtain two-dimensional horizontal plane
shoulder alignment and sagittal plane knee joint angles,
respectively. The inadequacy of the use of the two-
dimensional shoulder alignment angle to estimate the
orientation of the thorax was seen above in the study of
Elliott et al. (2002). The two-dimensional knee angle
also does not estimate the true knee angle for out-of-
plane movements, which occur in the delivery stride.
With those two provisos in mind, the five front-on
bowlers in the study of Portus et al. (2000) increased
counter-rotation significantly from the second to the
eighth over, unlike the whole group. Ball speed
remained constant while accuracy showed some non-
significant variation during the spell. Given that
dehydration would increase during the eight overs, this
finding supports the results of Devlin et al. (2001).
Shoulder counter-rotation was also significantly related
to accuracy during the last four overs of the spell. The
results of Portus et al. (2000) on bowling kinematics
support those of Burnett et al. (1995), who reported no
significant differences for selected kinematic variables
across a 12 over spell, but with some evidence of
increased counter-rotation for front-on bowlers.
Stretch and Lambert (1999) found no increase in the
heart rate of 11 junior and 10 senior high standard fast
bowlers during a spell of six overs in a turf cricket net.
The mean values for both the groups were 77% of their
maximal heart rates (HR,,). These results broadly
agree with those of Burnett et a1 (1995), who reported
increases in heart rate from 80 to 85% HR,,. Stretch
and Lambert (1999) interpreted their results to mean
that no reason based on heart rate can be advocated for
limiting the overs bowled in a spell to less than six.
There are, as noted above, sound biomechanical
grounds for restricting the number of overs bowled,
particularly for young fast bowlers.
Grant et al. (1998) revisited the standard theories of
differential boundary layer separation for the swing and
reverse swing of a cricket ball (see Bartlett et al., 1996).
They used hot-wire anemometry to study the air flow
behind a cricket ball in wind tunnel tests. Their results
showed the expected asymmetric boundary layer
separation and wake flow that are consistent with both
measured lift coefficients and the classical explanation
of swing bowling. Their study provided additional
insights into the swing and reverse swing phenomena.
On the rough side of the ball - that to which the seam
points - little change of the boundary layer separation
point with Reynolds number was noted. This was true
even in the range of the critical Reynolds number -
around 150,000 - beyond which reverse swing may
occur. The smooth side of the ball, by contrast, had
three different separation modes depending on the
Reynolds number. At low Reynolds numbers, up to
100,000, laminar boundary layer separation occurred at
80-90" around the ball as in the classical theory.
However, at a Reynolds number of 140,000, corre-
sponding to a ball speed of about 30 m.sC1, the
separation point moved towards the rear of the ball,
with a 'bubble' formation and reattachment at 90-100".
In an adverse pressure gradient, this is unstable and
immediately re-separates. The authors speculated that
surface cooling could affect the stability of the smooth
side separation bubble and provide a possible explana-
tion for the influence of humidity on swing, which has
so far proved elusive. As Reynolds number increased
further, both the length and the height of the separation
bubble decreased. This reduced the tendency to re-
separation and led to turbulent boundary layer adhe-
sion further around the rear of the ball. These
separation phenomena on the smooth side of the ball
are the explanation for reverse swing, whereas the
separation behaviour on the rough side explains normal
swing.
As well as being deceived by swing bowling, batters
can also be deceived by irregular ball bounce, for
example depending on whether the ball hits the leading
or trailing edges of a crack on the pitch. Carre et al.
(1998) reported the analysis of cricket ball impacts
using digital stroboscopic photography. The system
they developed was capable of showing differences in
ball behaviour between different pitch types. The
accuracy of the system was better than the inconsis-
tencies within a type of pitch. The system is still
undergoing development and improvement.
The cricket team
This section of the review deals with the collective team
or with players as individuals, rather than batters,
bowlers or fielders. This means that some papers on
cricket injury appear here, along with those dealing with
individual and team psychological issues.
In a study of players in five sports, Cook et al. (1998)
used ultrasonography to ascertain whether a hypoechoic
region was present in the bilateral patellar tendons. This
feature would be expected in people with a history of
jumper's knee, so only asymptomatic athletes were
studied. Of the 14 cricketers fiom the Victorian
Institute of Sport's men's (six) and women's (eight)
teams, only two tendons had a hypoechoic region, 7%
of the 28 scanned. This was slightly higher than for
controls and netball players, but way below the figures
for footballers and basketball players. Clearly this
condition is non-problematic in cricketers.
 Finch et al. (1998) examined emergency department
injury records from the Australian National Injury
Surveillance Unit (NISU) for the period 1989-93. Over
that period, 5 1,203 children and 46,837 adults attended
a NISU emergency department for treatment of a sport
or exercise injury. Of the 10 most frequent sports
leading to a NISU attendance, cricket was eighth for
children, accounting for 3.7% of all sport injury
presentations. Cricket was also eighth for the propor-
tion of presentations needing hospital admission
(8.2%). The most dangerous sport for children was
cycling. Of team sports, Australian football, basketball
and soccer had more presentations than cricket;
Australian football, soccer and rugby required more
admissions. As might have been expected, netball was
safer than cricket on both indicators. These figures
could be considered misleading, as they take no
account of the numbers participating in these sport
and exercise activities. Of the total injuries to children,
44.2% were to the head, 33.9% to the upper extremity,
15.5% to the lower extremity, 3.2% to the trunk and
3.2% to other regions or unspecified. Finch et al. (1998)
also reported the nature of the injuries: lacerations
(17.8%), superficial abrasions (2.9 %), haematoma or
bruising (30.2 %), inflammation, swelling or pain
(7.5%), fracture (12.4%), sprain or strain (12.4%)
and other, unspecified (1 1.4%). Cricket was the worst
of the team sports tabulated for the proportion of
haematomae or bruising in children but lowest in
fractures. These injury types were not broken down to
the regions injured. Nevertheless, the high percentage
of head injuries to children is disturbing, although the
wearing of protective helmets was probably less
common in that period (1989-93) than today.
The later study of Upadhyay and Tan (2000), of the
nature of acute cricket injuries to children attending the
emergency department of a tertiary children's hospital
in New Zealand over the period 1993-98, showed a
lower percentage of head injuries. Of 60 injuries
reviewed, 16 (27%) were head injuries, of which eight
involved a closed head injury with concussion, two a
head injury plus skull fracture and six a fractured nose.
Blunt abdominal trauma accounted for six injuries and
blunt thoracic trauma for two; seven involved fractured
fingers and 11 fractured forearms. The other 18 injuries
included soft tissue contusions, ligament injuries,
minor lacerations and abrasions that did not need
admission to hospital. Thirty-one of the 60 injuries were
caused by ball impact, 12 by bat impact, 12 by a fall,
three by collision with another player, one by a fall onto
the bat handle and one by a fall onto the stumps. Only
the first two of these categories could be considered
preventable. Nineteen (32%) of the injuries required
surgical intervention, mostly open or closed reductions
of finger and forearm fractures. Only two injuries were
life-threatening and both involved abdominal trauma
not head injury. One involved a 14-year-old boy who
tripped and fell onto his bat handle when running
between the wickets; he was unfortunate to sustain a
grade IV rupture of his left kidney. He was discharged
after 18 days of conservative treatment with a non-
functional left kidney. The second case involved a 14-
year-old boy colliding with a fellow fielder while both
were chasing the ball and 'they fell on top of each
other'. This incident also caused a very serious injury. A
computed tomography scan showed a caecal wall
haematoma. After 2 days of conservative treatment,
the patient's condition deteriorated and a laparotomy
was performed. This revealed a huge haematoma
involving the caecum and ascending colon and extend-
ing into the retroperitonum and superiorly to the liver;
the visceral peritonum had split. The patient made an
uneventful recovery and was discharged 7 days after a
right helicolectomy and anastomis of the transverse
colon to terminal ilium. These two serious injuries
could not have been prevented by protective equipment
and can only be considered as part of the risk of
participating in sport.
Upadhyay and Tan (2000) did not identify which
injuries were caused by bat impact and which by ball
impact. The latter might be largely considered pre-
ventable by the wearing of protective equipment,
whereas the former are far less likely to be in the same
category. Given the large percentage of head injuries in
both the above studies, it would be prudent for the
cricketing authorities in various countries to seek to
obtain information on how the head injuries were
caused in these two studies and whether they could
have been prevented by the wearing of a helmet. This
would be a realistic safety precaution for batters, close
fielders and perhaps the wicket keeper, but unrealistic
for other fielders or the bowler. The ECB policy that
requires players under 18 to wear a helmet for batting
and keeping wicket - unless their parents consent to
them not wearing helmets (de Bruxelles, 2002) - is
undoubtedly correct.
For adults, Finch et al. (1998) reported that cricket
was the fifth sport in percentage of presentations to
NISU (7.3%) and sixth in requiring hospital admis-
sions. The most dangerous sport for adults was
Australian football and, on both indicators, participants
in this sport and two other team sports, soccer and
rugby, were more injury-prone than cricketers. Basket-
ball, netball and hockey all rated 'safer' than cricket on
both indicators. As was the case for children, these
figures take no account of participation numbers in the
various sports. For adults, there were dramatically fewer
head injuries (16.6%) than for children (44.2%). The
other figures were 32.6% (vs 33.9%) to the upper
extremity, 22.8% (vs 15.5%) to the lower extremity,
 The science and medicine of cricket
4.2% (vs 3.2%) to the trunk and 3.1% (vs 3.2%) others.
Lacerations (1 1.8 vs 18.8%), superficial abrasions (1.2
vs 2.9%),haematomae or bruising (19.6 vs 30.2%) were
less common for adults than children. The reverse
applied for inflammation, swelling or pain (10.6 vs
7.5%), fracture (20.7 vs 12.4%) and sprains or strains
(26.0 vs 12.4%). The reasons for these discrepancies
are not clear. The lower incidence of head injuries for
adults than children might have been due to a greater
use of protective helmets by adults, but other factors
cannot be excluded.
James et al. (1999) reported a study involving the
Australian Test and One-day International teams and
the Sheffield Shield and Domestic One-day teams for
the six states during the 1998-99 season. There were 95
injuries causing 213 player games to be missed. The
overall injury incidence was 20 injuries per 10,000
player hours, much higher than the 2.6 injuries per
10,000 player hours reported by Weightrnan and
Browne (1975) or the 4.0 per 10,000 hours reported
by Ball (1998). Leary and White (2000) tracked 54
cricketers who played County Cricket in any or all of
the seasons 1985-95. They found a total of 990 injuries
over that period and an injury incidence of 57.4 injuries
per 1000 days. Assuming a playing day of 6 h, which
might be in error because of weather interventions, this
translates into 95.5 injuries per 10,000 hours. The
discrepancies between these figures are enormous.
Some at least could be due to the definitions used.
Ball (1998) used presentations to an accident and
emergency department. James et al. (1999) defined an
injury as 'causing a player to miss selection for a match,
requiring surgery or limiting performance during a
match'. Leary and White (2000) defined injury as
'resulting from either training for or playing cricket,
which caused the player to seek medical attention'. It
would be helpful to other researchers, as well as players
and coaches, if sports medicine practitioners in cricket
could agree, and adhere to, a common definition of a
cricket injury.
A further observation by Leary and White (2000) was
that most injuries occurred in April, the beginning of
the season. The message that you had to train to play
cricket rather than play cricket to stay fit had not been
welcomed into the English game even by 1995 and
many County cricketers had a relatively inactive close
season. It would be interesting to review these figures
now, when the fitness message has reached interna-
tional players in England and Wales, if not non-elite
cricketers (Finch et al., 1999). It would also be
instructive to compare those figures with ones from
Australia and South Africa, whose players are regarded
as the fittest in the world.
Stretch (2001a,b) reported a study of injuries
sustained by cricketers from 11 provincial teams and
the South African national team in the 1998-99 and the
1999-2000 seasons. The study covered 88 cricketers
and 163 injuries in the 1998-99 season (Stretch, 2001a)
and 160 players and 258 injuries overall (Stretch,
2001b). Each cricketer sustained, on average, 1.6
injuries across the two seasons. Bowlers were most
injured (40.4%), then fielders (26.8%) and batters
(17.1%); the rest of the injuries were sustained during
the warm-up. There were some differences between the
two seasons, but no reason was proposed for this. The
early part of the season was the worst for injuries
(33.5%) and the late season the best (7.5%). Over the
two seasons, the lower limbs were easily the worst
affected region (49.9%), with back and trunk at 20.4%,
upper limbs 20.4% and head and neck 5%. The
delivery and follow-through of the fast bowlers ac-
counted for 25.6% of the total injuries, overuse injuries
accounted for 20.9%, fielding 14% and being struck by
the ball when batting 7.8%.
The main thrust of the overview of Finch et al. (1999)
was on measures to prevent cricket injuries. They
obtained their information from a Medline and Sport
Discus CD-Rom search over the previous 15 years,
injury conference proceedings and discussions with
Australian cricket injury researchers and cricket orga-
nizations. Although the content of that overview will not
be reproduced here, the issue of hydration status was
raised. The authors reported, without specifying the size
of the glass, that the Australian cricket board recom-
mend that one or two glasses of water be consumed
45 min before the event. They also reported that
consumption after play should be greater than that
dictated by thirst, which is somewhat vague (Finch et
al., 1999). One official drinks break occurs per session
and, in practice, umpires or team captains may agree on
more frequent breaks or allow drink bottles onto the
ground (Burke and Hawley, 1997). Gore et al. (1993)
had found that fast bowlers on a hot day showed a
severe mismatch between sweat loss and fluid intake.
The same would probably apply to batters playing a
long innings and fielders involved in a lot of ball
chasing. The fast bowlers' fluid intake was only enough
to replace 38% of fluid loss, leading to a fluid deficit of
4.3% of body mass after 4 h play. The bowlers appeared
to be drinking their maximum voluntary capacity, 0.5-
0.6 litre in the drinks break and about 1 litre at lunch.
They proposed more frequent drinks breaks and for
players to place individual drink bottles on or around
the ground. This does now happen, but on a rather ad
hoc basis. As dehydration is a potential cause of injury,
as well as a decline in performance, it is timely for the
cricket authorities to research clearer guidelines for
hydration and more formal ways of maintaining
euhydration. The guidelines of Burke and Hawley
(1997) would be a good starting point (Table 1).

Table 1. Recommended hydration practices (adapted from
Burke and Hawley, 1997)
In hot environments (> 25"C, > 60% relative humidity),
consider ways in which heat load could be reduced, e.g.
more drinks breaks
Acclimatize players for competition in a hot environment
Players should weigh themselves before and after sessions
and monitor fluid intake strategies across the season
Players must begin each match day euhydrated. This may
entail restoring earlier fluid loss and pre-hydration in the 1-
4 h before start of play
More opportunities should be provided for players to drink
during the game. An optimum fluid intake would replace
80% of sweat losses (although this may not be practical
when sweat rates exceed 1.5 1.h-')
Cricketing governing bodies should assess and revise, if
need be, current rules on fluid intake. Formal breaks more
than 30 min apart are not adequate for fluid replacement in
hot environments
Strategies should be implemented to increase access to fluid
during matches. Sports drinks are consumed more readily
than water
Sports drinks also supply energy when muscle glycogen
stores have become depleted during a day's play
An aggressive strategy of dehydration is needed after a day's
play to prepare for the next day of play or training.
Carbohydrate and electrolyte consumption should be
encouraged and excessive alcohol intake discouraged
The competition hydration strategies should be well
practised in training
Although the maxim that 'the team is greater than its
part' may not be as true in cricket as in most other team
sports, a good, coherent team is likely to be more
successful over time than a mere collection of talented
individuals. Sandy Gordon (2000), the sport psychol-
ogist to the Australian 1999 World Cup squad,
attributed the team's ultimate success to four factors.
The first of these was the coach's emphasis on what the
team did well in each game, and then what could be
improved. The second was the mental toughness and
outstanding form of the captain and vice captain, and
the third 'Aussie bloody-mindedness'. The fourth, and
most important, was the commitment to and execution
of a 'mental mission' by all 20 people in the touring
party. The three key performance psychology areas
(Gordon, 2000) emphasized in consultations were
creating and sustaining zones of optimal functioning,
positive mental momentum and task awareness.
Thelwell and Maynard (1998) obtained responses by
20 volunteer semi-professional cricketers to the mod-
ified Competitive State Anxiety Inventory (CSAI-2)
questionnaire before 10 cricket matches. During these
games, the performances of the players were assessed
Bartlett
subjectively and intra-individually by three qualified
cricket coaches. Repeated empirical assessments iden-
tified separate cognitive and somatic anxiety 'below',
'in' and 'above' zones for the intensity and direction of
somatic anxiety. Two-way analysis of variance for
intensity and direction of anxiety, with standardized
performance scores as the dependent variable, showed a
significant interaction between the zones for cognitive
and somatic anxiety direction and the performance
scores. However, the authors acknowledged that estab-
lishing zones in this way may not be an appropriate test
of the zone of optimal functioning hypothesis. They
considered that their study supported to some extent
the catastrophe model but not the zone of optimal
functioning hypothesis, possibly because the cricketers
in the study were sub-elite. These players might not
have been able to recognize their optimal zone
(Thelwell and Maynard, 1998). Thus, although Gor-
don (2000) was correct to focus on zones of optimal
functioning with his elite cricket squads, a similar focus
with a sub-elite group might not be appropriate.
Thelwell and Maynard (1998) felt that further research
would be beneficial if sub-elite cricketers were first
taught skills of self-regulation, and if they could focus
on modifjmg their perception of anxiety rather than its
intensity. Teaching sub-elite players the skills of self-
regulation should enable them to perform in a zone that
reflected consistently good performance.
In a later study, Thelwell and Maynard (2000)
examined whether players had a consensus view about
the factors most important for repeatable good cricket
performances. A total of 198 players who had played
County cricket used their playing experiences to judge
the importance of 15 selected variables that influence
performance. Many bowlers and batters ranked the
need for 'total self-confidence' highest. For batsmen,
this factor was highest, with 101 out of a maximum
possible weighted score of 150. For bowlers, this factor
scored second highest at 87, behind 'highly motivated'
at 95. Cultural consensus analysis indicated that no
single factor for either group was significantly more
important. A group of similar core elements (total self-
confidence, following a set pre-match routine, set
performance plans, optimal arousal and using mental
rehearsal) was highly ranked by both groups. Thelwell
and Maynard (2000) considered this last finding to be
important for coaches and psychologists trying to
produce strategies for more consistent and better
cricket performance.
Interestingly, none of the 15 items included by
Thelwell and Maynard (2000) focused on a team,
rather than an individual, performance variable. By
contrast, Aiken et al. (1998) studied the effect of team
outcome result (win or lose) and outcome ambiguity
(close or decisive) on the attributions of 74 males from
The science and medicine of cricket
11 senior indoor cricket teams in the 1994 North Island
Club Indoor Cricket Championships in New Zealand.
The two-part questionnaire started with six general
questions before progressing to the Causal Dimension
Scale I1 (CDS 11), which elicits causal attributions for
an outcome. The authors then presented 12 questions -
representing the attributions of locus, stability, personal
and external control - on which the players rated the
cause on a %point scale. The authors replaced 'you or
yourself with 'you and your team' on six of the
questions to avoid ambiguity of responses. Part 2 began
with three questions about the closeness and outcome
of a game and their performance followed by the CDS
11. The ratings of winners and losers differed only on
the stability dimension (t2, = 3.6, P < 0.0 I), with
winners being more stable in their attributional ratings
than losers. A chi-square analysis showed that players
were more likely to select a win as the most decisive
game and a loss as the closest (x21= 3.9, P < 0.05).
Outcome ambiguity had no effect on the attributions of
the players. Aiken et al. (1998) concluded that these
players were not self-serving on their locus attributions
for wins and losses, reflecting the team nature of cricket.
Mood is another factor that can affect cricket
performance and has been the theme of three recent
publications (Totterdell, 1999, 2000; Totterdell and
Leach, 2001). Totterdell (1999, 2000) studied 33
cricketers from three English County Championship
teams and one Second XI Championship team. Two of
the teams competed against each other. The players
used pocket computers to complete a series of bipolar
and unipolar scales to rate their moods and perfor-
mances for up to 4 days during a championship match.
Players completed their ratings before play began,
during the lunch interval and after play ended for the
day. The results were analysed using pooled time-series
analysis and correlation analysis.
The findings of Totterdell (1999), which were very
much to be expected, indicated that the players'
performances were related to their happiness, energy,
enthusiasm, focus and confidence during the match.
Most played better when less tense, although a few did
the opposite. The fact that these professional cricketers'
performances were influenced by their mood lends
support, if it was needed, to the view that captains need
to enhance the moods of their players when fielding and
bowling. The coach or captain needs to do likewise
before a match, during the intervals and while the
batters are waiting to bat. The results from the two
teams who played each other revealed significant
associations between the average of team-mates' happy
moods and those of the players and their subjective
performances (Totterdell, 2000). Mood linkage was
greater when players were happier and involved in
collective activity. Clearly the moods of the team and
players are linked, which lends support to the need for
the coach and captain to maintain positive moods
throughout a match. An intra-individual analysis of the
results fiom all four teams showed that mood linkage
was greater for players who were older, more com-
mitted to the team and more susceptible to emotional
contagion.
Totterdell and Leach (2001) set out to establish,
through two studies, whether the performance of
professional cricketers was related to expectations of
improving an unpleasant mood. The first study
involved 46 players from nine teams, of which five
competed in the English County Championship. Four
were the second teams of four of these County clubs,
which competed in the English Second XI County
Championship. During the first half of the season,
players completed a questionnaire, which included
scales that measure their expectancy of negative mood
regulation, individual reflexivity and well-being.
Twenty of the players were batters, 12 were bowlers
and 14 were all-rounders. The results of this study
showed that negative mood regulation correlated
significantly with players' batting average for the season,
while reflexivity, well-being and age were significantly
associated with negative mood regulation but not
batting average. The second study involved 19 of the
players from the first study. Nine of the players were
from two first teams who were playing each other and
10 from two second teams also competing against each
other. Results were logged as in the studies reported by
Totterdell (1999, 2000). Players with a greater negative
mood regulation had significantly higher ratings for,
and smaller changes in, happy mood, and better batting
performance during the match. These results suggest
that associations between negative mood regulation and
both aspects of happy mood were mediated by batting
performance. The authors concluded that these and
previous findings suggest that professional cricketers
should be trained to increase their use of specific mood
regulation strategies to enhance their performance. This
is a message that should be acted upon by County and
Test coaches and managers and the sport psychologists
who work with them.
Georgiadis et al. (2001) used the achievement goals
approach in a study of 72 male cricketers from the seven
best teams in the premier division of an English County
cricket league. The players completed the 13-item Task
and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (TEOSQ)
at a practice session. Four players were drawn from the
sample to represent each of the four distinct types of
goal orientation - that is, the four combinations of high
or low task and high and low ego. These players were
interviewed by one of the authors 1 month after group
data collection. Results of the interviews were analysed
by hierarchical class analysis. The low-task low-ego
 Bartlett

player showed less adaptive profiles than the other
three. Perhaps not surprisingly, 'the players emphasised
situations congruent with their goal orientations'
(Georgiadis et al., 2001). One of the conclusions was
that the results had important implications for sport
psychology. These implications were identifying ath-
letes' definition and estimation of achievement beha-
viour and demonstrated competence, fostering adaptive
views about what causes success, and eliminating beliefs
that cause tension. However, no guidance was provided
to practitioners on applying such thoughts to the
motivation of cricketers.
Motivation can help to build and sustain the
commitment of young cricketers. Using an earlier
commitment model, Carpenter and Coleman (1998)
conducted a longitudinal assessment of the commit-
ment of 78 County youth male cricketers, aged 9-17
years. These cricketers completed the Athletes' Opi-
nion Survey at the start and towards the end of their
cricket season. The survey contained demographic and
participation information, as well as items on commit-
ment, enjoyment, negative affect, personal investment,
involvement alternatives, involvement opportunities,
social opportunities, recognition, social support and
social constraints. Change scores were calculated by
subtracting the mean scale scores at the first survey
time - late June to early July - from those at the second
survey time - late August to early September. These
survey times corresponded, respectively, to a period
when all the players had played at least one game and
the period just before the season ended. Multiple
regression analysis of these change scores showed the
model to account for 49.0% of the variance. Changes in
commitment were significantly predicted in sport
enjoyment, recognition opportunities and social oppor-
tunities. Repeated-measures analysis of variance
was 1994 to April 1997 and the study was based on the
results of 81 one-day internationals. They sought to
develop a model that would predict the probability of a
team, with a particular set of performance profiles,
winning a one-day international. Each member of the
team had a performance profile based on the previous
five games. T o each set of performance profiles, the
outcome of the match expressed as 'win' or 'lose' was
attached, which eliminated the profile for a drawn game
against India in 1997. The profile variables fall broadly
into batting and bowling performance (10 each) and
those reflecting the order in which players appeared in
the previous five matches (five variables). From the 25
profile variables, 42 team variables were created.
Eventually, 45 potential predictors were searched to
identify a subset of predictors that can best model the
probability of a win. The subset had six predictors
(Table 2) that multiplied by their coefficients produced
a variable 'logit' such that the probability of a win is
eloat/(1+ eloat). T o apply the model, a team is proposed
and the results of the five previous matches are then
used to produce player profiles for all profile variables,
except HOME. A team profile is then produced and the
logit equation, with or without the remaining profile
variable, HOME, is used. Finally, the result is fed into
the win probability equation to give the probability of a
win for the team proposed. Four examples were given
by Gilfillan and Nobandla (2000):
South Africa vs Pakistan: 28 October 1994, Away
Win probability < 5%. Result: South Africa lost by 6
wickets
Table 2. Predictive model of Gilfillan and Nobandla (2000)
-- -- -

showed increases in sport enjoyment, recognition, Variable name Description Coefficient

social opportunities and social support, and decreases
in negative affect from the start to near the end of the MINBAT Minimum number of -1.2836
season. Decreased commitment resulted from de- matches players batted in
creases in social support, recognition and social MAXRUNS Maximum average runs -0.050949
opportunities. Based on this study, coaches of County players made
youth teams and the parents of the players should work
MMAXWIC Maximum number of M.98143
together to enhance those factors that increase commit-
wickets taken by bowlers in
ment and ensure those that decrease it do not intrude the team divided by number
on the positive factors. Failure to heed this clear of bowlers
message will lead to good young players leaving the
game for other sports or social pursuits. TCENTURY Number of centuries made M.59 187
Research in recent years has moved towards model- by the team
ling performance in both individual and team sports. MINMAXORD Minimum of the maximum -0.41060
Gilfillan and Nobandla (2000) provide an interesting deviation from the team
model of the performance of the South Afr-ican national order
cricket team who have been the second most successful HOME Binary variable = 1 for home M.8 1445
team in the world, behind Australia, in recent years. game, = 0 for away game
The period covered by Gilfillan and Nobandla's study
The science and medicine of cricket
South Africa vs Pakistan: 17 December 1994, Home
Win probability < 39%. Result: South Africa lost by
8 wickets
South Afi-ica vs Sri Lanka: 1 October 1996, Away
Win probability > 39 %. Result: South Africa won by
2 wickets
0 South Africa vs England: 14 January 1996, Home
Win probability > 82%. Result: South Afiica won by
7 wickets
The model was reported to have a success rate of
78.7%. This modelling approach seems well worthy of
consideration by team selectors.
Conclusions
Research into the science and medicine underlying
cricket performance and injury has progressed since the
First Congress on Science and Medicine in Cricket in
1999. However, much more research needs to be done
until we have a full scientific understanding of the
game. For example, we need both to address common
definitions of injury and to carry out more research into
injury mechanisms. Batting research needs to bring
together motor control and biomechanics more fully.
The fitness demands of the game are still poorly
understood, along with the mechanisms causing fati-
gue. Evaluation of the efficacy of intervention strategies
needs to continue and to develop. The applications of
research need to be communicated more to the coach
and players, in areas such as team dynamics, so that
they can be applied, and tested further, in international
matches.
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