Cricket injuries at elite level in Australia have been demonstrated to occur at a rate of around 18 injuries in total for a squad of 25 players who play twenty matches in a season.
On average, around 9% of cricketers have an injury at any given time, although in fast bowlers over 15% are injured at any given time.
There are very different physical demands involved in different types of cricket, which has meant the injury profile is slightly different between five day Test Matches, weekend to four day matches and one day matches. The launch of Twenty20 cricket has placed a new physical requirement on cricketers, although it is too early for the effects of these demands to be analysed in sports injury research.
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Low back pain is particularly prevalent among younger fast bowlers. The repetitive action of bowling for long spells places excessive stress on the tissues of the lower back, where
stress fractures of the vertebra (
spondylolysis or spodylolisthesis) can develop.
Research has indicated that muscle injuries such as
hamstring strains and
side strains are the most common cricket injuries. These injuries are due to the functional demands of the sport where occasional sprinting and ball throwing may be repeated across a seven hour day.
The secret to avoiding a cricketing injury is to develop prevention strategies.
In short these can relate to:
You coach or physiotherapist will be able to provide you with generic team activities plus some specific individual advice to address your weaknesses or deficiencies.
